Dubai: A social media user has revived the complaints of Dubai residents after he posted a video – reflecting the shock of how annoying massage cards have become.
On his Instagram account, Mohammad Bin Thani posted videos of how many massage cards were collected by Dubai Municipality workers on a daily basis, which sparked a heave of interest from the public at large.
In a matter of two hours, Bin Thani’s videos received over 6,000 views each, as social media users praised the hard work of Dubai’s cleaners who have to pick up the litter on a daily basis.
Abdul Majeed Saifaie, Dubai Municipality’s director of Waste Management, told Gulf News that workers have to face the issue of tossed massage cards across a number of commercial areas in Dubai.
“I cannot emphasise enough on the importance of throwing such massage cards in the bin. When drivers reach their cars, they automatically dump it on the floor, and this is a bad practice,” said Saifaie.
“The main problematic areas are where bachelors live, such as in Karama, Deira, Bur Dubai and other commercial business districts,” he said, pointing out that the new areas of Dubai, such as Tecom/Barsha Heights and Dubai Marina also face a constant battle of such types of litter.
Authorities have implemented stringent measures to curb the distribution of massage cards, which tends to be placed on windshields of cars and car windows.
A recent crackdown led to the seizure of more than seven million massage cards that were to be placed on car windows.
• Barrage of massage cards frustrates residents
The fine for distributing business cards that advertise massage parlours is Dh500, according to Dubai Municipality’s regulations.
In 2017, the municipality issued 57 fines against massage centres in the areas of Al Nahda, Al Qusais, Al Rigga, Abu Hail, and Hor Al Anz, for illegally distributing their advertising cards on car windows.
In a crackdown last year, more than seven million massage cards were also seized.
