Umm Al Quwain Economic Development closes the Bedouin Heritage Village

Yesterday, the Department of Economic Development in the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain closed the “Bedouland” heritage village, located on Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, Exit 113, permanently, after its owner published a video clip on social media sites claiming the presence of underground wells in the heritage village due to the sulfuric quality of the water. Treating diseases, which was denied by the Umm Al Quwain Municipality and confirmed that there was no sulfuric water to treat diseases in the heritage village that belonged to a citizen.

The municipality explained that the clip that was circulated on social media is untrue, and that there is no groundwater in the area that treats diseases, as the village owner claimed. The owner of the heritage village had published the video clip showing the presence of sulfurous water on his farm, and said that it is suitable for treating some diseases.

The village owner pointed out that he dug a well and green water flowed from it for two hours. He also took samples and presented them to a laboratory in the emirate for examination. He discovered that it was sulfurous water that contains mineral salts and treats bone and joint diseases.

For his part, Director General of the Department of Economic Development in Umm Al Quwain, Mansour Sultan Al Kharji, said that the department permanently closed the heritage village because its owner had committed a violation related to cheating and deceiving the public and claiming the existence of groundwater wells containing sulfurous water that treats diseases.

He explained that after confirming the measures taken by the Umm Al Quwain Municipality against the village owner for violating applicable laws and publishing video clips that lacked credibility, the department decided to take measures to close the village and fine him financially for digging groundwater sources without obtaining a license.

At the beginning of this week, Umm Al Quwain Municipality closed seven unlicensed groundwater wells in the violating heritage village. The municipality also imposed financial fines on the village owner for violating the law on digging underground sources and the Public Health and Environment Law.