DUBAI // Municipality officials will meet this week to discuss how to stop the illegal housing of bachelors in villas across the city. The meeting follows the deaths of 11 workers last Tuesday, when their overcrowded villa in the Naif area of Dubai was destroyed by fire. The villa accommodated more than 500 men, all of them living in overcrowded rooms that violated health and safety standards.
"We were aware of these villas in Naif area and notices had been sent to many of them," said Omar Mohammed Abdul Rahman, the head of the buildings inspection section at Dubai Municipality. "In fact, the owner of the villa that caught fire was given several notices to vacate in 2006, but he illegally continued to house these people. "All senior officials in the department will meet this week and discuss the next course of action."
After cordoning off the area, police allowed the fire victims to collect the remains of their belongings from the villa on Friday. Residents were seen sifting through the burnt remains of their rooms for any valuables that might have survived the blaze. Dubai police confirmed yesterday that three people, two Emiratis and an Asian, had been arrested in connection with the fire.
Abdul Jaleel Mahdi Mohammed, the deputy director of preventive security at Dubai police, said one of the Emiratis was the landlord, the other was the middleman and the Asian was the agent. Police were also looking for another Asian man, he said. Authorities in Dubai have repeatedly ordered bachelors out of villas and have also warned against overcrowding and the illegal partitioning of rooms. Dubai Municipality is also planning to clampdown on more than 400 labour camps for failing to meet minimum health and safety standards.
But yesterday, bachelors were still living in congested villas across Dubai, including one next door to the villa that was destroyed by the blaze. Many bachelors told of how soaring room rents forced them to live in such dangerous environments, despite being aware of the risks. "We know that we could be the next victims of a fire. "However, many of us continue to live here because we cannot afford the rents charged in buildings," said Alexander, a resident of the villa next door to the one that caught fire.
Areas such as Naif, Deira and Hor al Anz in Dubai are rife with overcrowded villas that accommodate single men. @Email:pmenon@thenational.aeare