Teenage vandals burn park chairs and write graffiti

Sharjah: Teenagers are terrorising visitors and vandalising park property due to a lack of security guards at the new parks.

A senior Sharjah municipality official on Wednesday told Gulf News the new parks in Al Noaf, Al Bade'a, Al Ramaqia and Al Juraina are yet to be handed over to the civic body by the construction company.

"A lot of paperwork needs to completed for the parks' ownership to be legally transferred to the municipality. We cannot place security guards until the transfer takes place," said Abdullah Al Shwaikh, a municipality spokesperson.

Teenage boys aged between 9 to 15 have already caused extensive damage to the parks by burning chairs and writing graffiti on the walls.

"The number of problems in parks has dramatically decreased with the introduction of special park identification cards, and right now we are only faced with a few cases of vandalism," he said. The municipality issued the free subscription cards in May 2006 for families to gain access to their neighbourhood park.

A total of 13,170 ID cards have been issued up until now, according to Ali Salim Al Muttawah, head of the Parks Section at Sharjah Municipality.

To apply for the free subscription cards, residents have to submit to the municipality a copy of their tenancy contract to prove that they are residents of the area.

Members who misuse the subscription card will face a fine of Dh500. The cards will be valid for a year.

"There are also many visitors who do not speak Arabic who do not understand that they need ID cards to enter, and then they come back with their health card or a driving licence," said Al Shwaikh.

Parks that have an entry fee will be open for residents from all emirates.

We seriously need to take of these issues into consideration. People are afraid to walk near Abu-Shagara park. I've witnessed teenagers assaulting an aged Bengali person who was cleaning cars! These teenagers need proper guidance from their parents.
Nida
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: February 07, 2008, 08:43