Some 70 families living in four buildings in the Bin Mahmoud area of the city are on the verge of being rendered homeless as the structures have been earmarked for demolition and water and power supplies have been disconnected. The residents realised to their horror recently that they were being driven out as the buildings were old and would soon face the civic bulldozers. They have now approached Doha Municipality and pleaded that they be allowed at least three months’ reprieve so they could look for alternative housing. The tragic part of the story is that the families who have been living in these buildings for years on end, realised that they had to abandon their homes after electricity and water supplies were suddenly disrupted. They were not served any notice and came to know of their fate when they went to Doha Municipality enquiring about the disconnection of utility supplies. To their shock, the families were told that the Municipality had served evacuation notice on the owners of the buildings at least six months in advance. But according to some members of the affected families, they were not informed of demolition plans by the landlord. Some of them even met the landlord’s representative a few days ago and he assured them that there were ‘absolutely’ no plans to raze the buildings. But the talk of the buildings having been earmarked for demolition had been going for six months or so. “However, when we repeatedly checked it out with the landlord’s representative he replied in the negative. He had been maintaining throughout that there were no plans to raze,” said a member of one of the affected families. The families have been paying monthly rents ranging from QR1,500 to QR1,750 and some of the apartments were given out on rent a few months ago. Now, it is difficult for these families to get flats for such affordable rentals. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=December2009&file=Local_News200912179191.xml

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