Plantation Week heralds opening of more green spaces

Dubai: Eight new public parks are set to open this week as part of activities lined up for Dubai Municipality's 30th edition of Plantation Week.

The first of these, the 210,000 square metre Barsha Pond Park, was opened on Sunday by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council.

"Four of these parks are pond parks, [the] first of their kind in public parks, which have been implemented by Dubai Municipality in the emirate of Dubai. Dubai Municipality has set up pond parks at Al Nahda, Al Barsha, Al Quoz and Al Qusais 3," Engineer Salah Amiri, assistant director-general of Dubai Municipality's Environment and Public Health Services Sector, said.

He added that an additional four parks will be residential parks or neighbourhood parks.

"The ponds are filled through the storm drain network which [channels] rainwater as well as salinated ground water, with the excess water being pumped out to sea," Abdul Majid Saifaie, director of the Drainage and Irrigation Network Department, said at the opening ceremony.

Barsha Pond Park's main attraction is the 100,000 square metre pond that makes up for almost half the park's size. Visitors can rent paddle boats and rent bicycles to make use of the park's 1.6km bicycle path.

The new projects will bring the number of public parks in Dubai to 94.

New projects

- Eight parks to open this week

- A total of 94 public parks in Dubai covering 7 million square metres.

Do you have a public park in your residential area? Do you know of an area which is in need of park facilities?