Palm Jumeirah residents having to bathe in sea

Residents of a Palm Jumeirah residential complex were left high and dry without water supply for four days, forcing them to bathe in sea or use malls and office washrooms to relieve themselves.

Water supply was apparently cut off by a pipe burst affecting the seven-building complex, Oceana, and the property management firm Asteco allegedly waited for four days to fix the problem, XPRESS reported.

"The workers told me that Asteco, the property management firm, didn't want to pay another contractor to fix the problem and hence were happy to wait for as long as it took for their existing contracting company to step in," JD, a resident in the complex.

Rather than fixing the problem quickly, the management offered them a stay into Movenpick Hotel at half the rack rate, which is Dh250 per night, which residents claim  is a normal Ramadan rate.

JD says he spent a day at a hotel, another day at a friend's and the last two days staying out as much as he could - only going home to sleep.

Other residents like MJ and his wife used the swimming pool for a quick wash before heading to work.

"As soon as the water problem was fixed on Saturday, the pool was drained and closed off. When the pool reopened on Monday, the lazy river is closed off," says the British engineer.

Responding to queries in an e-mail statement, Stephen Polydorou, Senior Association Manager, Asteco Property Management, said the work currently being carried out on the lazy river at Oceana was scheduled.

"Notices were placed in the elevators over eight weeks ago, to inform residents. The work on the lazy river is necessary to upgrade the tiling and is being carried out as planned. It is due for completion on August 22. It will take 3-4 days to refill the Lazy River with water and it will be re-opened on August 24. Considering the temporary shutdown of the mains water last week, as a precaution, the Oceana swimming pool was treated by the specialist contractor and has been fully operational again since last Monday," the statement read.

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