Nadeem Hanif
DUBAI // Some residents of Discovery Gardens say the smell of sewage is so bad they will be forced to leave.
Tenants have grown frustrated over the past two years with what they describe as inaction by the developer, Nakheel, over the use of treated sewage water in the outdoor sprinkler system.
“It’s been a complete nightmare for me and many other people living here,” said Hisham Al Abbas, 34, a Syrian who lives in the community’s Mediterranean cluster.
"The smell is completely overwhelming and I can't do anything when it starts."
Mr Al Abbas has been renting a studio apartment for the past three years but says the problem with the smell has been an issue for the past 18 months.
Two of his friends have moved out and he believes more will follow.
Each day when he returns home from work at about 7pm he has to clear the smell from his apartment before he can eat or sleep.
“It’s really overpowering and I have to switch off the AC and spray the apartment with freshener and light candles to mask the smell,” Mr Al Abbas said.
“I have to open the windows to clear the air but then as soon as the sprinklers go on again later in the evening I have to rush to close them and the curtains. But the smell still comes through.
“It’s so bad that when the sprinklers go on at 3am and 5am every day, I wake up and then have to clear the smell.”
Three weeks ago the sprinklers were left on all night from 7pm and the smell took days to clear, he said.
“The problem is it only takes one person to switch on their AC and the smell gets circulated around the building,” he said.
“I’m in a difficult situation because if I break my tenancy agreement now, I’ll have to pay a penalty because my contract ends in August. If it’s not solved by then, I’ll move out.”
Mr Al Abbas said it was difficult to find a suitable place to move to because he did not have a car and could not afford an apartment closer to his work in Jumeirah Lakes Towers.
“I’ve called Nakheel’s emergency number and tried their online system but it’s just going around in circles,” he said.
Mr Al Abbas is now complaining to Dubai Municipality in the hope that some action can be taken.
“I’m lucky because I live alone but there are a lot of families here and it must be much worse for them,” he said.
The sewage smell has been a long-running issue for people in the area.
In October last year, residents in Jebel Ali Gardens, near Discovery Gardens, said they feared the use of treated sewage water, also know as sweet water, was a health risk.
Nakheel said it was aware of the issue but it had been exacerbated by a burst water main and it would take more than a month to resolve.
A Nakheel spokeswoman said on Wednesday that the company would investigate.
nhanif@thenational.ae
