DUBAI // Owners of unoccupied and abandoned buildings have been given an ultimatum to carry out urgent renovation work or have their property demolished.
Photographs of the 16 affected buildings will feature in Dubai Municipality advertisements warning of the deadline, with owners being given two weeks to respond.
If they fail to contact municipality staff in the required time the owner of the building will be forced to pay the cost of the demolition work, plus 20 per cent administration charges.
"We have given owners notice to do renovations on the building," said Jaber Ahmed Abdullah Al Ali, the head of the building inspection section at the municipality.
"They can rent it or live in it. But just don't leave it abandoned and open the door so anyone can use it.
"These abandoned buildings can be used for bad activities. Illegal people could sleep inside or it could be used to store prohibited materials."
A separate statement from the municipality said abandoned buildings were a "safe haven for anti-social elements".
There are also fears of rodent infestations or structural problems in properties that have not been lived in or used for long periods of time.
The 16 buildings are in Rashidiya, Abu Hail, Al Mizhar, Al Qusais, Al Hamriya, Al Quoz, Umm Suqeim, Ras Al Khor and Jebel Ali. Their owners can contact the municipality by ringing 800900 for further information.
The municipality has been working for the past two years to reduce the number of abandoned buildings. Last year, 72 properties were demolished across the emirate.
In addition, the authority has cut the number of unoccupied buildings from 518 to 203, although it is not clear over what time frame.
There are plans to bring the number of unoccupied buildings down to zero by the end of the year.
Police praised the initiative when it began two years ago.
"We always seek to eliminate these houses and are working closely with the municipality on the issue," said Col Jamal Al Jallaf, the deputy director general of Crime Monitoring Affairs at Dubai Police.
Mr Al Ali said inspectors watch closely the condition of buildings in the emirate. "If it is left abandoned for more than six months, we start our process," he said.
Similar campaigns have also been taken up by authorities across the country in recent years. In Sharjah, 118 buildings were demolished in 2012, a slight decrease from 122 the previous year.
Sharjah Municipality bosses said in April that notices were served "to preserve the look of the emirate" and also to stop the buildings being used as homes for illegal residents.
In 2010, 92 illegal residents were arrested after they were found living in two abandoned homes in Al Marijah and Al Shuwaiheen.
Last year the Sharjah Government announced a Dh20 million fund to provide emergency housing for Emiratis living in dilapidated homes that were marked for demolition.
In Abu Dhabi, 78 buildings were demolished across the emirate last year, including 10 commercial buildings, 33 residential villas, eight government buildings and 27 Portakabins.
mcroucher@thenational.ae