Cargo company disappears with household goods of many expatriates
FORMER RESIDENTS CLAIM MOVERS SOLD OFF GOODS
When filmmaker Umair Tareen moved back to Pakistan after 12 years in the UAE, he hired Dubai-based moving firm Noor Al Fajar to ship his belongings to his hometown Karachi. It was a decision he hasn’t stopped regretting.
Six months and dozens of emails and long distance phone calls later, he’s yet to hear back from them. Worse, the relocation firm has reportedly sold all of Tareen’s belongings. While Dh100,000 worth of filmmaking equipment, consumer electronics and furniture were allegedly disposed of in the UAE, other items like kitchen appliances, crockery and home decor were auctioned off in Karachi.
“We are devastated. Those 44 boxes had our entire life … all our belongings, our memories, our hard work, the toys my children were attached to,” said the father of four.
“For months we slept on mattresses. My children keep asking me for everything they had. My wife had painstakingly built our nest with designer furniture and expensive home decor items. She’s gone into depression,” said the former Sharjah resident.
Scores affected
Tareen is not alone in his despair. Like him, the lives of scores of Pakistanis who used the services of Noor Al Fajar or its sister concerns have been thrown into disarray.
Among them is Syed Mohammad Anees, who hired Noor Al Fajar in August to ship Dh40,000 worth of designer handbags, clothes and expensive crockery he had bought for his daughter’s wedding.
The consignment is yet to be delivered to their Karachi home. “They have stopped taking our calls,” said the Mirdif resident, who has since lodged a police complaint.
Osayed Rehman said his parents are still waiting for their belongings that were shipped from Sharjah to their Lahore home in August. “Our cargo weighed 1.8 tonnes. They charged us Dh10,000 for door-to-door delivery. We were told that the container has reached Karachi port and will be delivered within a week. But now we have lost all contact with Noor Al Fajar,” he said.
Sharjah resident Kashif Mirza, who moved his family to Karachi in December 2018, alleged he was similarly cheated by Amir Altaf Cargo, run by the same Pakistani expat who owns Noor Al Fajar.
“All my electronic goods were either sold off on online platforms or in the UAE second hand market. What was
left was sent to Karachi for auction. I had to pull a few strings to find my goods before they went under the hammer. But just as I had feared, most items were badly damaged and many furniture pieces were missing,” recalled Mirza, who paid the relocation firm Dh11,000. “My consignment was worth Dh60,000. Then there were things you can’t put a price tag on,” he said.
Sadaf Bilal, Raza Kazmie, Abdullah Mohammad are among many others with similar horror stories.
Neither Noor Al Fajar nor any of its sister concerns’ owners could not be contacted by Gulf News despite several attempts.