UAE | General

Residents fume at fines for parking off roads due to sewage

Unusable car parks and lack of signage to show out-of-bound areas resulted in people leaving their vehicles in non-designated parking places

  • By Alice Johnson, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:07 July 4, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • The car park at the England cluster in International City is flooded with sewage.
  • Image Credit: Alice Johnson/Gulf News

Dubai: Residents in International City's England cluster are furious at being liable for parking fines after being forced to park on pavements.

They cannot park in the spaces by their buildings, as they have been flooded with sewage over the last three weeks.

Any cars that are not parked in the marked spaces, which are now under at least 3cm of sewage as reported in Gulf News, are being given parking tickets by Traffic Police. It includes areas near roundabouts and on pavements.

There is no signage to indicate which areas are out of bounds for parking, which also includes the roads in front of buildings.

A resident of England cluster, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "The sewage is everywhere, so where are we supposed to park? The car parks in England are unusable, luckily my 4x4 can go off road so I park sometimes in the middle of roundabouts or in another cluster and walk home every night after work. Me and my neighbours have to park on the sidewalk, but they have been given tickets because it's not allowed.

"I have seen someone putting plastic bags on his feet to walk to his car. People are obliged to go into the sewage and park their cars, but they park with the trunk nearest the pavement and then climb out of the back of the car that way," he said.

The resident said that he has complained to Nakheel management and claims to have sent pictures of the problem.

"We are not allowed to have satellite dishes outside the building because of the aesthetics, but what about the sewage? This is a major problem that is keeping every resident from enjoying clean, healthy and serene living. Paying cheaper rent doesn't mean that residents should drown in sewage, the situation is becoming ridiculous," he said.

No direct contact

The biggest health threat associated with sewage comes from direct contact, with the potential of spreading many faecal-oral diseases. Health officials advise residents to stay away from the raw sewage bubbling up from the drains. "You should not have direct contact with it," said Dr Abdullah Ustadi, head of the infectious disease unit at Rashid Hospital. Dr Abdul Gaffar Al Hawi, advisor at Health Ministry, told Gulf News: "Keep your food covered."

- Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter

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