Cut-off in water supply has Abu Dhabi residents up in arms

Abu Dhabi // Police were called to an Abu Dhabi apartment building after angry residents spilled out in the street frustrated that their water had been cut for days without notice.
The tenants of the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank building in Khalidya say water stopped flowing to their units Sunday morning and didn't start again for good until Tuesday, despite assertions by the building's management that the water supply was only suspended for 10 to 12 hours.
"We tried calling the maintenance company, but they were not picking up," said Khaled Abdo, 53, who lives in the building with his wife and son. "We called the municipality and they said this is an internal issue with the building."
After 24 hours of having no water, about 15 to 20 residents gathered outside to vent their frustration. One tenant called the police Monday evening, hoping their intervention would lead to some action.
Mr Abdo said that's when the maintenance company's supervisor arrived and the broken water pump was temporarily repaired.
"They fixed the pump for an hour or two," said Mr Abdo, an Egyptian-American. "In the morning, we had no water again."
For Walaa Mohammed, the outage meant sending her two boys to school unwashed.
"We are upset, but what can we do?" said Ms Mohammed, who has lived in the building for 10 years. "We can do nothing."
"It's really difficult, you can't take a bath, you have to buy mineral water just to clean up," said Revelyn Noch, a 40-year-old Filipina who has lived in the building for about a year. "They should have given notice at least two days before so that everyone was prepared."
The women's branch of the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and a clothing store, Dar Kawashi Couture, which operate from the building's ground floor, were also affected by the outage.
The 18 storey building, which is opposite the Abu Dhabi Education Council School Operations Sector building, houses eight apartment units on each floor and is managed by MPM Properties. Ameel Al Qubaty, who is the maintenance manager with the company, disputed the residents' claims that the water was shut off Sunday. Mr Al Qubaty said the company became aware of the outage Monday morning and immediately had crews on the scene working to repair the broken water pump.
"It was maybe 10 or 12 hours only," Mr Al Qubaty said of the outage, which he blamed on two broken water pumps. "Unfortunately, both of them were out of the order at the same time."
Mr Al Qubaty said the pumps may have been strained by high usage caused by residents who pack multiple families in one unit. He also acknowledged the pumps are old and promised the company is in the process of replacing them within days.
"We are going to change all the systems," Mr Qubaty said. "Within three or four days maximum, we will start replacing them."
Notices will be posted throughout the building advising residents of the exact dates of the replacement work.
"They should understand that we try to do our best to improve the life in the building but also we ask them to help us, to cooperate with us, for cleaning, for don't allow somebody to live with them in the building, it's very important.
"We promise that we, insha'Allah, in the future, in a couple of days, we improve more and more and they will see," Mr Qubaty said.
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