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UAE: Abu Dhabi cracks down on illegal practices to preserve aesthetic look and feel of city

Abu Dhabi - 182 inspections have been conducted since January 1 to curb such practices

Overcrowded apartments and villas, indiscriminate littering, illegal installation of satellite dishes on commercial buildings, dilapidated homes, dumping of construction wastes in residential neighbourhoods and cars abandoned on the streets for several weeks are some of the major illegal practices targeted by civic inspectors in Abu Dhabi for distorting the aesthetic look and feel of the UAE’s capital city.

The Abu Dhabi Municipality said it has implemented 182 field inspection campaigns to crackdown on these illegal practices since January 1.

The civic authorities also sent out 31,896 awareness messages to sensitise residents about the importance of maintaining the city’s appearance.

Civic officials said 30 of these inspection campaigns were conducted on Abu Dhabi island alone.

The inspection campaigns were carried out in coordination with Abu Dhabi Police and the Abu Dhabi Centre for Waste Management (Tadweer).

The sustained inspection drives were intended to improve the public appearance and preserve the clean and healthy environment that the city enjoys.

According to the civic authorities, the illegal practices that distort the city’s appearance include indiscriminate dumping of wastes, illegal installation of satellite dishes on commercial buildings, overcrowded apartments and villas, dumping of construction wastes in residential neighbourhoods, random emptying of sewage in residential areas, cars abandoned on the streets for weeks, dilapidated and abandoned buildings and homes.

The civic authorities have stressed their keenness on maintaining the city’s general appearance and a clean and healthy environment, and that it would continue to intensify its inspection campaigns throughout the year on all areas within its jurisdiction, targeting all groups and members of society to ensure compliance with rules.

Earlier in June, the municipality launched a new campaign against motorists abandoning their cars on the streets for a long time. Officials warned that abandoning cars on the roadsides and public squares is in violation of municipal rules and attracts a fine of Dh3,000.

In March, the municipality authorities had warned that shops and other commercial stores that would be found without a garbage container would be penalised Dh1,000.

The warning was issued as part of the new campaign launched by the municipality to prevent the random dumping of waste outside containers and to maintain the city’s cleanliness.

Civic officials have pointed out that UAE's residential laws stipulate three persons per room and prohibit makeshift partitions to further divide them.

Offenders of Abu Dhabi’s residential laws face fines of between Dh10,000 and Dh100,000.

While repeat offenders are staring at a penalty between Dh100,000 and Dh200,000.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com