Oh good, another clarification!

An old one has popped up out of nowhere again.

One that we kept getting wrong, misunderstanding the very clear and concise statements and actions of officials.

Then we misunderstood the subsequent clear and concise clarifications from other officials.

So now we have another clear and concise clarification, clarifying all the previous clarifications.

We can be in doubt no longer. Everyone knows, as officials keep telling us.

Sorry, I should explain I'm talking about Dubai Municipality's 'one villa one family' rule.

Just to remind you so that you're clear about it all:

The campaign was launched in April 2008. It was officially called 'one villa one family'.

By July there were reports that: "Families living in shared villa accommodations in the Jumeirah-1 and Abu Hail areas have been asked to vacate under Dubai Municipality's ongoing 'One Villa-One Family' campaign.

Since the launch of the campaign in April, almost 2,400 eviction notices have been served to families living in villas in the Rashidiya area, and water and electricity supply to 280 villas have been disconnected."

In September I reproduced this DM advertisement which clearly states that within thirty days from that announcement it was obligatory to vacate multi-families.




On October 3, 2008: "The Municipality’s 'One Villa, One Family' campaign kicked off this week with inspectors combing through villas in Al Rashidiya area, an official said."We study every case individually. However, the rule we enforce is one family per villa."

In November we read that: "Dubai Municipality is cutting power and water to as many as 200 villas a week in an attempt to evict people who are sharing homes, but some of the tenants are defying authorities and illegally reconnecting services, a senior official said yesterday."

Naturally we stupidly misunderstood it all. We misinterpreted all that as meaning that there was a 'one villa one family' law and that it was being enforced.

It obviously needed clarification so that we really understood the situation, which we received on February 1st, 2009:

"There is no "one villa, one family" rule in Dubai and the campaign against overcrowded villas has been misunderstood, a top civil official said on Sunday.

Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality said the municipality did not have any problem with more than one family living in a villa, provided it was big enough."The municipality has started a campaign against overcrowding in villas to ensure the safety and security of residents."

I was relieved that it was clarified for us at long last. There was no 'one villa one family' rule, it was simply a safety issue.

But then with so many previous examples of how we keep misunderstanding even the simplest statement from helpful officials, that obviously needed clarification. Just to make sure we all understood.

So that 'everybody knows'.

We have it today in The National:

"Dubai Municipality will intensify its one villa, one family campaign next month, and warned yesterday that families and landlords could face stiff fines for breaking the law. Hussain Nasser Lootah, the municipality’s director general, said penalties could hit Dh50,000 (US$13,000) for violators.

'We made this announcement two years ago, and it was made very clear that sharing villas would not be allowed,' Mr Lootah said. 'Now we have given enough time, and there will be no more exceptions.'"

I'm going to lie down now...



If you think I'm making it up I have an earlier posting on the subject, with links to the clarifications and all that. It's here.

And today's clarification in The National is here.