While trying to reach your parking spot, you suddenly have to slow down because a child runs up to your car in order to retrieve a football that has rolled under. This is a sight that many Gulf News readers claim to have come across regularly.
Mohammad Thameemur Rahman, an engineer based in Sharjah, is one of them.
He said: “Children would be playing football on the pavement, which disturbs the public that is walking past. And then suddenly one of them will run behind the ball that has rolled onto the road. Sometimes children don’t look at the road to see if any vehicle is coming. They run on blindly just so they can collect the ball.”
Rahman said that there is only one park in his area of Abu Shagara and the children do not walk to it as it isn’t close to his building.
Prerana Pai, a pupil based in Sharjah, has also witnessed this issue.
She said: “I have seen them playing on the Buhaira Corniche near a mosque. There is also a sandy area behind my building where children often play cricket and football. I am assuming this is due to a lack of proper play areas in and around the residential apartments. The park in our area has one dedicated play section for sports, which is usually occupied leaving the rest of the children with no place to play. So, with no other choice, they resort to parking lots, empty sandy areas or pavements. There should be more parks in residential areas.”
Neetha Oommen, a student based in Bur Dubai, says there isn’t enough place for them to play.
She said: “A small park has recently opened in the area, which is an improvement. However, the reality is that it can never accommodate the number of children in the area, and it is not accessible to many children unless an adult accompanies them. Hence sports will continue to be played in parking lots. The solution is to have a small ground in the middle of a few buildings so that it is safe and accessible.”
Manesh Daniel, a student in Sharjah, agreed.
He said: “I once used to play cricket in parking lots, too. It is due to the unavailability of proper places to play that forces children to use parking lots as their playgrounds. The authorities need to open more parks and educate children on the hazards of playing in unauthorised areas. Even though there are parks available, most of them have very less play areas, especially for cricket.”
BOX:
There are 58 public and residential parks all over Sharjah city, a number of which are designated only for women. Most of these parks have walking platforms. Visitors to the residential parks have to obtain an annual card for Dh15, only to be allowed to enter the park. This regulation ensures that only Sharjah residents and their guests, if any, have access to the parks, and also to hold card users responsible for any illegal acts or misuse of park facilities.
The Dubai Municipality alone is said to spend over Dh50 million annually on the maintenance of public parks, according to a Gulf News report published in November 2013. Dubai has many public parks, with some of the larger ones including Mushrif Park, Safa Park, Zabeel Park, Dubai Creek Park and Al Mamzar Park. Some neighbourhood parks might be operated by property developers, but are open to the public. Opening hours for most parks in the emirate are 8am to 10pm on weekdays and some of them are open up to midnight on weekends and public holidays.
Abu Dhabi also has a collection of neighbourhood parks, with arcades dedicated to children. Majority of the parks are open from 8am to 10pm, with weekend closing time set at 11pm.
