Dubai neighbourhoods to have markets offering maintenance services

Dubai: Residents having difficulty in finding maintenance services in their neighbourhoods will benefit from a new initiative planned by the civic body.

Residential neighbourhoods in Dubai are set to get specialized markets that will offer services of all household needs, the Dubai Municipality announced on Wednesday.

Hussain Nasser Lootah, director general of Dubai Municipality has approved a study prepared by the Municipality’s Assets Management Department to set up markets for urgent household needs in residential neighbourhoods.

“These markets will cater to professions related to urgent maintenance needs of homes such as electricity, plumbing, stitching, air conditioning, electrical works of cars, and necessities related to pharmacies and bakeries, facilitating the services to be provided at homes,” a statement from the civic body said.

"The Municipality has conducted surveys among the public and customers resulting in the adoption of a proposal to establish markets in residential neighbourhoods called 'Professional Markets in Residential Neighbourhoods' that will include all the professions that the public may need in running their daily lives,” said Juma Al Fuqae, director of Assets Management Department.

However, the municipality did not clarify when and where exactly such markets would be set up.

Meanwhile, Lootah has also asked the Assets Management Department officials to improve the working environment in a number of markets in Dubai, namely the Fahidi Souq, Souq Al Shaabi, Truck Market and the Birds and Pets Market, the civic body stated.

Al Fuqae said that a meeting was held with traders from all the four markets to get their inputs in order to enhance business in all these markets within the framework of a city plan to be implemented in cooperation with other government departments.

“There has been great cooperation from these departments in increasing trade movement in the emirate as they are also working to make all the customers in the emirate happy in order to achieve the concept of 'Happy Dubai'.”

He pointed out that as per the plan, more parking facilities will be provided for shoppers in Al Fahidi area, in addition to facilitating and activating the movement of vehicles, in cooperation with the Roads and Transport Authority.

Al Fuqae said that a hypermarket, 57 shops and car parks were recently opened in Al Fahidi Market, which has a variety of 145 shops including restaurants, cafeterias, gold shops and money exchange centres.

“The shops in the Souq Al Shaabi were distributed with the cooperation of the Architectural Heritage Society on the basis of the old and modern traditional professions carried out by the people of the UAE such as frankincense, Arabian perfumes, traditional clothing, sweets etc.

"About 50 stores were distributed to Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises,” he said.