Union Properties has called on residents of Motor City to report any further issues regarding cooling services to Dubai Police, and other relevant authorities, after the air conditioning was disconnected over the Eid holiday weekend.
Residents were left in a sweat after the dispute between developer Union Properties, district cooling service provider Emicool and the owners’ association.
The issue surrounded service payments to Emicool and while the three companies involved argued over who was responsible for settling the amount, tenants were forced to suffer, with cooling services in the common areas disconnected until Tuesday.
In a message to tenants, Emicool said: “We regret to inform you that due to Union Properties PJSC default of concluding cooling service invoices of the common facilities, such facilities will be disconnected within five days.”
The disconnection also affected individual properties, according to a report by Gulf News.
However, a statement from Union Properties said the matter of payment to the cooling provider was not their responsibility, but was down to the owners’ association, which is managed by Edacom, a subsidiary company of Union Properties.
The company sent a notice to Dubai Financial Market (DFM) to inform them of legal action it was taking over the accusations made against them.
Hassan Abdulrahman Al Serkal, COO, head of Operations Division & executive VP at Dubai Financial Market, in response to a post on social media, said: “We are aware of the unfortunate fact that the cooling company has threatened tenants in Motor City with disconnecting air conditioning to public facilities there, which violates RERA regulations and laws. Thus there is no expected impact on the stock price in Dubai Financial Market due to that tweet, although Union Properties is about to take legal procedures against publishing its name in this issue in accordance with the UAE laws and we will update you with any development as it happens.”
And in a further move, the developer urged residents to report any further outages to Dubai Police, and other relevant authorities.
A Union Properties spokesperson said in a statement to Arabian Business: “We are aware of the inconvenience that Motor City residents faced following the recent disruption of cooling services by the service provider. We wish to place on record that Union Properties is not involved in operations of this matter, as such operations are run by the owners’ association management entity, Edacom that is in active communication with the service provider and the relevant authorities to ensure a speedy resolution.
“In accordance with the regulations and laws of Dubai, it is not permissible for a service provider to disrupt services in common areas. While Edacom remains available to assist residents, we believe residents have the right to communicate their concerns to the relevant authorities, including Dubai Police in case the service provider disrupts services in the future.”
One resident, who did not wish to be named, told Arabian Business: “We pay our cooling charges on time every month and then we get hit with something like this. I had guests over for the holiday weekend.”
Homeowners can pay up to AED20,000 ($5,400) a year for annual maintenance of the common areas.
Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Authority law – Article (34) Law No. 26 of 2007, reads: “Landlord is prohibited from disconnecting services to the property or preventing the tenant from benefiting from the property. However, in the event of occurrence of such incidents, the tenant shall refer to police station in the same area to prove the case or to stop such prevention, and also to file a case before or to stop such prevention, and also to file a case before the Committee, enclosing supporting reports, for compensation of any damages.”
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