I want to raise awareness regarding the extra work that has to be done by municipal workers in Dubai due to the increase in business cards being dropped off on vehicles. I have noticed a sharp rise in the number of people dropping off these cards over the past few weeks. Some people come thrice a day and leave the cards on every vehicle parked in the Al Nahda 2 area.
The municipal workers have to continuously clean the roads after people throw away these cards out of frustration. Apart from that, I have seen the workers spend time removing these cards from sandpits or from parking areas.
Whenever a car is parked, these people seem to appear out of nowhere and leave the cards. I am sure motorists get irritated on seeing nearly 10 cards on their vehicle’s window.
I spoke with a few motorists in this area about the menace caused by such advertising. The frustration was visible on their faces as soon as I mentioned the subject.
Ahmad, an entrepreneur based in Dubai who did not wish to reveal his full name, shared his frustration: “I usually park my car here for 30 minutes to get myself lunch from the restaurants nearby and when I come back, I see at least eight cards on the window. It gets really frustrating. If I see any of these people distributing cards, I try to go and stop them, but they act like they can’t speak English and they run or walk away quickly.”
Another person who is equally frustrated is Anish Midhun, an architect who resides in the Al Nahda area, too. He parks his car in the parking area adjacent to his residential building.
He said: “The authorities should track these people down by using the number that is provided on the cards and make sure to warn them to stop distributing such cards. These people seem to move around with hundreds of cards in their bags.”
Additionally, when I asked him how he felt about municipal workers picking up the cards, he said: “I feel sorry for them. At times, in our anger, we don’t realise we throw the cards on the road or pavement, and they are left for the municipal workers to clean up. I have seen the workers struggling to pick these cards up sometimes.”
I agree with Midhun that the authorities could track down these people and give them a stern warning. There are times when you come across these cards scattered all over parking lots like leaves during autumn season. It does not only create extra work for municipal workers, but is also a great waste of good quality paper, which shocks me.
— The reader is a pupil based in Dubai.
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FACTBOX:
In a report published in Gulf News in October 2014, the Department of Economic Development in Dubai (DED) explained that advertising on business cards is illegal, and as per an agreement between the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Interior, companies are not permitted to have employees distribute business cards on streets.
