42 private parking lots shut in Sharjah
sharjah — The Sharjah Municipality recently shut down 42 private paid parking lots for various violations. A senior official said the violations included unauthorised increase in parking charges, failing to follow safety standards and violating the municipality regulation to organise their operation.
These were unable to obtain licences from the Planning and Survey Department, and Department of Economic Development, and operation permit from the municipality.
Ali Abu Gazeen, director of public parking at the Sharjah Municipality, said that the civic body seeks to regulate the operation of private parking in a way that preserves the rights of residents and also ensures the highest standards of public safety in the city.
He added that the civic body, therefore, has recently intensified campaigns targeting the investment parking services to ensure they comply with regulations and requirements set up by the municipality to organise their activities.
He stressed that the shutdown of the private paid parking lots was carried out after following a series of procedures. They were first warned and given a grace period to rectify their situation. Those which continued with the violation faced closure, Abu Gazeen said.
He explained that to convert sandy spaces into paid parking lots, the investor needs to submit a request for authorisation in accordance with the procedures and stipulated conditions. The role of the parking department
Ali Abu Gazeen
here is to control and monitor the operation of the private parking players and prevent exploitation of customers by its management or owners. Some of them recently hiked fees since the parking spaces are limited, he said. The number of private paid parking lots reached 253, which includes 14,632 parking spaces in Sharjah city being managed by different investors.
He said that there has been a decrease in the number of parking violations since the residents have started realising the importance of the public parking project and its role in minimising the exploitation of limited parking space and growing traffic congestion.
Abu Gazeen said that the municipality has recently introduced guidelines to organise the operation of the private parking lots. These guidelines include the regulation that obliges the worker at the parking zone to wear a uniform, carry ID card with one’s name as well as the company’s name that one works for.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com