DUBAI // Bachelors living in residential areas and families illegally sharing villas have been warned about a civic body clamp down.
Under a 1999 municipal bylaw, it is illegal to share accommodation or for bachelors to live in family-friendly non-freehold suburbs.
Yusuf Abdullah Al Marzouqi, acting director of the Buildings Department at Dubai Municipality, said they had cracked down after field visits in several residential areas in the emirate.
"The inspections are aimed at all bachelors living in residential areas, be they sharing or living alone," Mr Al Marzouqi told The National. "This is an ongoing process, but due to increased complaints from neighbours we are increasing our efforts."
The main problem with sharing, he said, were matters of hygiene as well as health and safety - for example, overloading utilities can be a fire hazard.
When the department catches bachelors living illegally, both the tenant and the owner are notified and given deadlines for evacuation.
After the deadline, the municipality disconnects electricity and water.
"The municipality will take necessary action in case of receiving any complaint from families regarding the presence of bachelors in these areas," he said. "All violations will be handled based on [the law] regarding the regulation of buildings."
Jaber Al Ali, head of the Building Inspection section, said: "We are currently targeting the more Emirati neighbourhoods and older areas of Dubai, such as Rashidiya, Abu Hail, Al Jafiliya, as well as parts of Deira and Bur Dubai.
"The law prevents renting villas to bachelors, and fines can be anywhere from Dh1,000 to Dh50,000 depending on the area. If it is a company using the villa for accommodations then we fine the company, otherwise we fine the landlord."
Although all bachelors technically fall under the accommodation law, Mr Al Ali said they try not to target bachelors who live alone. "I understand that in some cases companies will provide villas for their managers, and he might be a bachelor. We don't target these people unless we get a complaint, then we have to do an inspection."
The law also does not apply to an Emirati bachelor who owns the property he lives in.
"I urge landlords to inspect their properties from time to time just to make sure that it is not being used illegally," said Mr Al Ali.
malkhan@thenational.ae
Maestro
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FIGHT CARD
1. Featherweight 66kg
Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg
Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg
Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg
Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg
Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg
Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg
Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg
Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Abdipatta Abdizhali (KGZ)
9. Featherweight 66kg
Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
10. Catchweight 90kg
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
Brief scoreline:
Crystal Palace 2
Milivojevic 76' (pen), Van Aanholt 88'
Huddersfield Town 0
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara