Dubai: Dubai has postponed the implementation of the new waste disposal fee, giving a respite for waste transport companies and their clients from the “pay-as-you-throw-fee.”
Dubai Municipality’s Waste Management Department announced the postponement of the implementation of a local order related to waste disposal fees and fines, a day before the date of implementation of the decision.
The announcement was made to all entities involved in waste management activities through an email, a copy of which is available with Gulf News.
“With reference to the above subject, please be informed that the date for the implementation of Executive Council Resolution No. 58 of 2017 on fees and fines for waste disposal, which was supposed to start on 17/05/2018, has been postponed until further notice,” the announcement said.
It added that the new implementation date shall be intimated accordingly.
The civic body did not immediately respond to queries from Gulf News.
However, sources said the decision was taken following the intervention of Dawood Al Hajiri, director general of Dubai Municipality, after a customer forum organised for the waste collection and transportation companies on April 29.
Gulf News had reported that the waste transport companies that attended the forum had then said they would pass on the fee, taken for disposing waste as per its weight, to their clients generating waste.
Representatives of many companies had also aired their concerns about the impending financial burden on them as they were asked to register a bank account with the municipality for deducting the waste disposal fee every time their trucks dump the rubbish at municipal facilities.
Though officials had not provided the amount to be deposited by these companies, some company representatives had told Gulf News that this will range between Dh3,000 to Dh500,000 per month — depending on the operations of the companies.
Transport companies were also told that they must use RFID tags on their trucks transporting waste which will be scanned at the smart gates of landfills and treatment plants. Each tag will cost Dh300, company representatives said.
The postponement of the collection of the fee has given some relief to waste transport companies.
“We don’t know when it is going to be implemented … maybe after Ramadan, or even later. But the delay is definitely good for us,” said a representative of one of the companies.
Companies said they had not yet got any intimation about when to collect the tags for their trucks from the municipality.
“We were all getting ready … we had already deposited Dh30,000 in the bank account as advised by the municipality,” said a business development manager of a company.
He said the municipality’s decision to postpone the collection of the fee offered more time for transport companies to mobilise funds for depositing in their accounts and also for convincing their clients to shoulder the fee for the waste they generate.
