The owners of restaurants and cafes in Ajman asked the parties concerned to support them during the current circumstances the sector is going through due to the consequences of the Corona virus, stressing that the sector is among the most affected by the crisis. They pointed out to «Emirates Today» that rents drain their investments, especially as landlords refuse to reduce rents or postpone installments, and threaten to expel them from their stores.

On the other hand, the owners of buildings in Ajman confirmed that they are responding to the tenants of restaurants and cafes owners within the limits of their ability, especially that most of the buildings are mortgaged to banks and they have many obligations, and that they are in turn affected by the current conditions, and give tenants many options such as postponing payment of rent and exemption from delay penalties But sometimes the demands of the tenants exceed their ability, as well as they respond to humanitarian situations.

contract renewal

In detail, the owner of the cafe “Adela”, Adela Olga Roma Nova, said that “last February, my contract with the owner expired and I asked him to renew the contract and pay him monthly through 12 checks instead of four checks, but he refused, in addition to that the rent increased from 160 thousand to 170 thousand dirhams, and with the decision to close the cafes, my cafe was closed, but the owner kept asking me for rent, although I explained to him the conditions that we all go through, and that there is no source of income for me other than the cafe, and I only have enough liquidity for my livelihood And the workers in the cafe, but the owner refused to give me a deadline to pay, and he asked me to get out of the cafe ».

Nova said that the owner threatened her with expulsion from the cafe, and he told one of her employees that he would prevent her from entering the cafe.

She added: “I got four loans so that I could open this cafe and committed to paying the rent, but the current conditions and the closure of the cafe during the past period as part of the precautionary measures contributed to the lack of revenue or almost their absence, which led me to falter in paying the rent, and we ask the owners to respond with us and take into account the conditions That we are going through now so that we can give us an additional period to pay, and also reduce the value of the rent instead of increasing it, as happened to me. ”

Cafe owners

For its part, Hind Abu Al-Saud, owner of a chain of cafes, said that “the owners of cafes in Ajman are among the most affected investors due to the cessation of their activities completely during the last period, which caused debts to accumulate on them due to the high rents of their stores and their payment of their workers’ salaries, and the owners not responding to them in the current circumstances, The owner of the coffee shop is required to pay the rent of his shop and the workers' residence, in addition to their salaries, in addition to renewing the licenses and accommodations for workers, water, electricity and internet bills.

Abu Al-Saud called on the concerned authorities to support the sector, by appealing to the owners to exempt them from rents or at least reduce them by 25%, support them in relation to exemption from fees and violations, open the door for financing to them, and support them in relation to electricity, water and other services bills.

For his part, the owner of a coffee shop in Ajman, AS, said that he only mentioned the first letters of his name, “The tenants have become helpless, so they have two options, either to pay or leave the store and leave all the décor and equipment done, which means Their achievement of great losses, because the sector is currently going through exceptional circumstances and some are unable to pay even the value of services, to the point that one of the cafes was separated from electricity, which harmed the goods and products in the cafe fridge ».

The catering sector

For his part, (Mahmoud K.), the owner of a café, said that investors in the restaurants and cafes sector in Ajman are the most affected due to the current conditions, especially that real estate owners want to get them out of their shops due to their delay in paying the rents, which exposes them to losing their investments in the shops. Like decorations, whose value in my shop reached about 1.5 million dirhams.

He called for the necessity of providing them with support and appealing to the owners to reduce their rents and supporting the electricity, water and sanitation bills, because they are in urgent need of this support, especially with the presence of salaries for workers, adding that he has about 15 employees.

(Sharif, A), the owner of a café, stressed that with the cafes reopening and returning to work, but the refusal to provide hookahs, besides that the permitted workforce is only 30%, makes it difficult to achieve revenue now.

In turn, Ahmad Aburiya, the owner of a café, called for the necessity of exempting the rents during the closing period, especially since the cafes are required for many bills, including electricity and water, in addition to the workers' rents and their salaries.

Angel responded

On the other hand, Ahmed Al Nashmi, Real Estate Manager and Deputy Landlord in a number of buildings in Ajman, said that the landlord or his representative is assisting commercial tenants within certain limits, such as postponing a payment or two of the rent, or reducing the rent if the date of renewal is currently Or, waiving delay fees, depending on each case, but it is difficult for the building manager or even the landlord to exempt the tenants from their rental obligations, because the owner himself has obligations.

(Mohamed B.), the owner of one of the buildings in Ajman, added that there is an angel committed to paying the bank installments, which makes the landlord subject to many pressures, which does not give him ample room to help the tenant more.

(Abdullah S.), the owner of one of the buildings in Ajman, pointed out that most of the properties are mortgaged to banks and have monthly installments. The damage to store owners varies from case to case, there are humanitarian cases and we are helping them.

Support for cafe owners

Mahmoud Mustafa, owner of a chain of cafes in Ajman, has identified a number of demands to support cafes owners at this time, including stopping the rents from the date of cessation of activity from the competent authorities, until a decision to return the activity completely again, and not to cut services from electricity, water and communications services , And demanding a 25% reduction in rents for a year, renewing commercial licenses for a year without any fees, and appealing to the banking sector to open financing for enterprises.

Cafe owners are demanding a cut in rents, support for utility bills, and easier bank borrowing to bypass the crisis.

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