Al Ain: Unruly street artists are defacing one of the UAE’s highest walls at Jebel Hafeet.
Carved out of mountain rock, the wall is on top of Jebel Hafeet’s south-eastern edge overlooking Mazyad and Umm Al Gafah districts. The wall is, in fact, a protection against falling rocks, but street artists have lately started to view it as a huge canvas.
The wall has turned into a colourful piece of art with hundreds of names and words inscribed on it in English and Arabic. Tourists write their names as high as they can — and then take photos in front of their masterpieces.
The 1,240 metre-high Jebel Hafeet is one of the country’s highest picnic spots attracting tourists from all over the UAE and neighbouring countries.
Graffiti on public places is against the law.
“Yes... It [graffiti] is not allowed,” said an Al Ain Municipality official.
He said appropriate measures are regularly taken to control such behaviour. The municipality has listed some 133 common actions as violations attracting various punishments.
“Graffiti is among these acts of misconduct,” said the official, asking not to be named.
He said the municipality launched a campaign last September to raise public awareness. The municipality also published a guide listing all the offences in English and Arabic and distributed thousands of copies in the city.
Safeguarding the city’s beautiful image and public safety is the prime object.
“Anybody found not complying with hygiene rules or tampering with property and facilities or infrastructure will be punished according to the law,” said the official.
Residents, however, said they were not aware that anything was being done to stop this behaviour.
Sultana Mahmoud, an expatriate resident, said the municipality had not been removing the graffiti or put up any warning signs to stop such behaviour.
“It seems that nobody minds this uncivilised behaviour,” said Tareq Mahmoud, a visitor from Dubai.
He said people and the municipality must take action to deter vandals who are ruining the picnic spot’s natural beauty.
Preeti Kumarasinghe, a visitor from Abu Dhabi, said: “The beautiful wall has been spoiled by inconsiderate people who sign their names on it… What exactly are they trying to achieve?”
She said that it was a shame to see the reckless actions of a few.
“The natural picnic spots are a great gift and deserve to be treated with respect,” she said.
Kumarasinghe said graffiti artists might think that they are engaging in harmless behaviour. But in reality their actions negatively impact the area’s natural beauty and stop people from enjoying beautiful places.
