DUBAI Homeowners at the fire ravaged 24 story Tamweel Tower in Jumeirah Lakes Tower (JLT) have hit out against the seemingly endless delays in getting the building restored.
Nearly two years after a fire partially destroyed the 160 apartment building, they are still waiting to claim damages and get the building restoration contract approved because of insurance delays.
“A building reconstruction tender was supposed to have been awarded on September 20. But now the insurance firm, Orient Insurance, has got back to us saying they needed to appoint a new loss adjuster,” said Indian expat Tina Halela, who owns a three-bedroom apartment on the 29th floor. “This is unfair as we have had a loss adjuster for two years. To ask for a new one is simply not acceptable,” she said.
Maqsood Shaikh, who owns a two-bedroom apartment, said he is disappointed with the way things have unfolded.
“Every time we get to the point of tendering a contract, some new issue comes up. The insurance firm has been dragging its feet for over a year. It’s frustrating,” he said.
Jordanian Murad Najjar, 31, who owns a two-bedroom apartment, said authorities should intervene on our behalf.
Insurance firm’s response
Orient Insurance said a new loss adjuster is being appointed to evaluate the increase in the construction contract bid. “There has been Dh30 million increase in the contractor’s bid. This is being questioned by our reinsurer and a new loss adjuster is being appointed to look into this. Our reinsurers have also raised other issues which are currently being reviewed.
“We wish to clarify there has been no delay from our side. We agreed on the insured appointing a consultant WSP which was involved in the tendering process. We even gave authorisation to proceed with the tender, but the insured had certain formalities to comply with like getting necessary approvals from RERA and Dubai Municipality. Further, the residents’ association was not registered until September 15. What is more when we issued the first tender, none of the invited bidders responded and only in the second tender two contractors submitted a bid.
Going forward, we do not anticipate much delay, provided we get all the necessary clarifications regarding the increase in the quoted value of repair by the contractor,” said Elamin.
Owners’ Assocation take
The Chairman of the Tamweel Tower Owners’ Association board Masoud Nayebi said it has referred the matter to the Insurance Authority and sought their immediate intervention “We are in touch with them to find a way out,” he said.
“The building restoration work has been delayed beyond our expectations. We are still waiting for a response from the insurance company for our claim which we submitted on July 27. We will be more than happy if the insurance company takes charge of the building restoration works and repair at whatever cost they think is right as long as the building is restored to its original state. In fact we requested them to take over the tower and repair it for us but they refused,” said Nayebi.
Owners recount their horror
Linda Shibo, 55, from Iraq owns a two-bedroom flat on the 19th floor.
“My house was burnt to ashes. I had to start my life from scratch – right from buying new clothes, utensils and finding a new accommodation,” she recalled. Linda bought the apartment in 2009 for Dh1.2million.
Maqsood Sheikh, from Pakistan owns two apartments on the seventh floor.
“Both my two bedroom flats were on rent. I had to cancel the tenancy contracts and repay Dh110,000 taken as advance rent from tenants. I have a mortgage on the two apartments and the rents were off-setting my Equated Monthly Installments (EMIs). I had to dig into my savings to repay my tenants. It was a financial blow to me.
Kashif Shaikh, 40, from Pakistani owns a two-bedroom apartment on the 19th floor.
“I have lost my confidence in Dubai’s property market and have since sold all my properties in Dubai. The fire was a wake up call to me.”
Murad Najjar, 31, from Jordan owns a two-bedroom apartment.
“I rented an apartment for six months thinking we will soon move back. But that did not happen and so I had to rent another three-bedroom apartment in Green Community, DIP, for Dh185,000. I bought my apartment in 2012, for Dh2.3 million but got to live there only for six months. I am very disappointed,” he said.
Chronology of events
November 2012
On November 18, a fire breaks out at 1.30 am in Tamweel Tower leaving more than 600 people (160 families) displaced from their home. The tower is shut down. Over 50 families are accommodated at Armada Towers 1 and 2. 61 hotel rooms are also booked for displaced families at the Bonnington Hotel. Other families are asked to stay at Al Mas Tower.
December 2012
Dubai Police confirms that a cigarette butt thrown in a pile of waste caused the fire.
Various stake-holders of the project prepare to appoint an expert to assess the damage in the building.
Tamweel - the developer of the tower - freezes mortgage payments of over 60 units financed by the company and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB).
Maintenance charge on the building is halved to Dh7.5 per square foot.
January 2013
Arab Orient Insurance, the building insurance company pays residents between Dh7,500 and Dh12,000 to cover a month’s stay in hotels.
July 2013
The building’s Interim Owners’ Association (IOA) tells owners that a restoration contract will be awarded by October 22, 2013. Work is anticipated to begin by December 8 to meet a July 7 2014 completion deadline.
October 2013
Consultants WSP submit their report to DMCC [Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, the master developer of JLT] for their review and approval. DMCC on their part asks them to resubmit the report to Dubai Municipality (DM) and get their approval.
January 2014
Developer Tamweel tells owners the IOA is fully responsible for the reconstruction of the tower and that they need to register with RERA to take charge of the building matters.
April 2014
RERA approves the association’s request to open an escrow account under its name. The IOA is now formally registered with Rera.
October 2014
Orient Insurance nominates a new loss adjuster to verify the increase in the construction contract bid.
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