Demolition of Old Villas in Bani Yas Begins

A large number of residents in the East Sector 11 of Bani Yas in Abu Dhabi have been rendered homeless after the Abu Dhabi Municipality began to demolish old villas following three warnings issued to the owners. Over the last three years, the villa owners were issued eviction notices, but many of them did not heed
the warnings. According to municipality spokesperson Adil Hussain “The Abu Dhabi Municipality has urged home owners in East Sector 11 in Bani Yas to move to the well-furnished units in Shamekha, which were provided to them in lieu of their old villas in Bani Yas. “Instead of taking possession of the new villas, many of them did not vacate their villas even after
several warnings.” To earn handsome amounts, the owners, in collaboration with real estate agents, rented out the old villas without revealing the fact that they were marked for demolition. According to tenants who were residing in those villas, “We were kept in the dark about the demolition deadline and we paid the rent for the entire year. The agents duped us.” “Suddenly, I got a call from my wife about disconnection of electricity and water supply.

So, I spent one night in my car and shifted the belongings during night without power supply,” said a tenant, who has lived in Abu Dhabi since childhood. Riaz Mohammed Rasheed, an Emirati, who has been residing in the villa for 21 years said, “My father left me here with my family and he shifted to the new villa as he took another wife. Now, I have no place to live. I don’t know where to go. I brought a generator as the electric supply has been disconnected here.” To a question regarding tenants who have been rendered homeless, Hussain said, “In fact, the contracts of these tenants were baseless and illegal, which they signed with agents. “We sent several notices to them (owners) to leave the place. Interestingly, we have already allotted them other villas with better facilities and bigger space.” Three years ago, the municipality had allotted new two-storey houses to each of them in Shamekha, Hussain pointed out.