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Keeping Dubai clean is our responsibility

The message is clear: find a washroom to spit out paan or throw up some phlegm to clear your throat.

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Dubai’s decision to hike fines for serial spitters, while introducing new fines in its efforts to keep the city clean, is a welcome move worthy of applause The emirate is drilling it into residents that they have a shared responsibility towards hygiene in the booming metroplis.

Spitters will now have to cough up Dh1,000 for the offence. Paan and betel-stained corners are not only an eyesore in the some parts of the city, they are a hub of germs from which diseases can spread. Past efforts to stem the practice with a Dh500 fine did not meet with much success, but the government is keen on ensuring that those who want to spit in public places, will think again this time. The message is clear: find a washroom to spit out paan or throw up some phlegm to clear your throat.

Our report said under the new regulations, littering on beaches will invite a fine of Dh1,000. Dubai is known to be pet-friendly city but it will not allow you to get away if the animal in your care has a go on its roads or pavements. So, if it poops, you will have to pick it up and find a trashcan to dump it. If you don’t, you will have to pay up Dh500.

The emirate is also keen on keeping its waterways free of pollution and has introduced a Dh3,000 fine for vessels spilling oil and other pollutants. The city may be in the middle of a construction and industrial boom, but companies disposing off industrial waste and other hazardous material in general public areas will be slapped with a steep fine of Dh100,000.

But the tricky task here is enforcement. For this, more inspectors will have to patrol the streets of the city and industrial areas to ensure residents and corporations abide by the rules. Awareness campaigns through the media and at sites must also be stepped up to spread the message.

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