Business at fish souq affected by parking

Dubai: Free public parking on the weekend is causing major problems at Dubai's Fish Souq, with motorists parking their cars overnight leaving no space for customers, say officials, souq workers and shoppers.

According to Dubai Municipality officials at the Fish Souq, even fish delivery trucks which come from as far as Oman are often unable to find space to park to unload fish.

"The car park used to belong to us, but now the situation is affecting business, because people who want to come here to buy fish literally cannot find anywhere to park on Friday," said Khalifa Abdullah Hareb, assistant marketing manager for Dubai Souqs.

"We are receiving hundreds of complaints from shoppers and something needs to be done. We are in contact with the Road and Traffic Authority (RTA), but nothing has been decided yet."

Hareb says they have floated ideas of extending the hours of paid parking to midnight on Thursday, or even privatising the car park, to solve the issue.

According to souq inspector Abdul Razzaq Mohammad, they have also received a large number of complaints from shop owners who say the lack of parking is hampering business at the souq, located near Deira Corniche in Shindagha.

"Every day shop owners come to us and ask for a solution because it has become unbearable. They actually want to see paid parking at the souq on the weekend," Mohammad said. Rashid Al Shamsi, another inspector who works on Fridays, says he often finds it more convenient to park at the Hyatt Regency and walk to the market.

'Things getting worse'

In his 25 years of working at the fish souq, Iranian shop owner Mahmoud Mohammadtaghi says the situation has never been as dire. "Things have been getting worse in the last two years. Our business is currently down 30 per cent partially due to the parking problem," he told Gulf News. Suresh Lal, a fishmonger who has worked at the souq for several years says that it is also affecting workers' earnings, because their salary is commission-based.

One regular customer, Rashid Mohammad, 28, from Yemen, says that he prefers to come to the souq because prices are reasonable. However, he definitely tries to avoid Fridays. "The parking is completely crazy. Some of my friends have stopped coming to the market because of the problem," he said. When contacted by Gulf News, the RTA said that they were looking into the matter.

- With additional reporting by Ashfaq Ahmed, Staff Reporter