Municipality to get tough on 'illegal' homes

Housing department to enforce regulations designed to prevent migrant workers from living in overcrowded or unsafe housing

Eleven men died in the fire which ripped through a villa near Dubai.

DUBAI // Overcrowded accommodations are a serious fire hazard and "an accident waiting to happen", a senior safety official warned following the blaze that killed 11 Indian workers yesterday. Redha Salman, the director of health and safety at Dubai Municipality, said any living space holding too many people and their belongings was a potential risk. "Overcrowding is considered unhealthy and hazardous. If too many people share a room not designed to carry that number, then they will be living in an illegal situation, which is against Dubai's health and safety regulations. "Increasing the number of people beyond the capacity of a living space will increase the pressure on electrical outlets, which can lead to a series of different accidents, including fire." For their own safety, labourers should live in designated camps, which are regularly inspected by the municipality, Mr Salman said. "Labour accommodation is designed with entrances and exits and a safety system, which will allow a large number of people to escape during an emergency." He admitted, however, that violations did occur and said the municipality was clamping down on illegal living arrangements. "There are guidelines and limits to the number of people living in one given room at organised [legal] labour camps. The maximum number of people living in one room is six. A room with more than six people is considered a violation." Residents and witnesses to yesterday's fatal fire said the villa behind the Naif police station housed as many as 20 workers in each room. Earlier this year, the municipality began a campaign to evict people illegally sharing villas, citing various dangers. Even in cases where a family occupied a villa, there were limits on the number of occupants because emergency exits and staircases could only handle so many people, said Mr Salman. "Depending on the size of the villa, villas are considered a private accommodation, normally occupied by a family, and if bachelors are the residents in certain houses, there is a limit to the number of individuals who are legally allowed to live there." Mr Salman said the municipality's building and housing department was responsible for the villa inspections, which were done randomly throughout the year. Capt Ali al Mutawa, the director of the operations department at Dubai Civil Defence, said the living arrangements in yesterday's fire-ravaged villa were "illegal". The occupants of the house had even created extra living space by building an additional floor on top of the one-storey villa, using a makeshift ceiling and wooden barriers to divide the house into numerous living quarters, he said. He added: "The danger was there. There were many flammable materials like wood that were found in the house, including 15 gas cylinders that were removed on the arrival of the emergency services. If they did explode, it would have been catastrophic as the fire would have spread to the entire neighbouring area. "Property owners should ensure that their properties satisfy the municipality's health and safety regulations to avoid any such accidents in the future." @email:[e-mail]