Workers evicted from homes

The eviction carried out by the local authorities in Al Asmakh area on Tuesday night has left manyresidents homeless and caused hardship to scores of hapless expatriates, it is learnt.

Though many had been expecting eviction for quite some time, none of them expected them to be thrown out of the area now amid sweltering conditions.

Conservative estimates put the numbers of those evicted anywhere between 500 and 1,000.

It was doubtful if even a single family stayed in the areas where the authorities carried out evictions, a resident of the neighbourhood said while fearing that more people from the adjoining localities in Al Asmakh would also be evicted in the coming days.

However, some of the residents of a neighbouring location have been allowed by their owners to continue in their accommodations until December 31, it is understood. This locality housed some families as well.   

Inquiries found that many families used to reside in the area until the beginning of 2013. However, these days the area houses mostly low-income Asian bachelors.

Speaking to this newspaper yesterday a few of those evicted had admitted that they had expected it since a similar action was carried out in the neighbouring Musheireb a couple of months ago. However, the authorities called off their action a day later after some of the residents there pleaded for a `little more’ time for moving out.

Eviction notices had been served to the residents of the affected areas more than six months ago, inquiries found.

The latest action has caught many grocery operators unawares, it is understood. One of them said shops like theirs thrived on the businesses from the residents, almost all bachelors.

“We fear many of those evicted on Tuesday night would never come back to the area as most of them owed us money as they made the purchases from our shops, availing of the credit facilities that we give for running businesses,” he said.

The grocery operator said there were about a dozen groceries in the area which used to cater to the residents of the affected area.

The Peninsula