Litterbugs mar clean, green image of Dubai

But there are areas in the emirate, including parts of the central business district, particularly in Deira, which, owing to the widespread occurrence of littering, are in sharp contrast to the popular image.

A lot may have been done to keep a check on litterbugs, but the sight of litter strewn on alleyways, dumped carelessly near municipality skips, the green belt islands on roads mottled with cigarette butts and beaches dotted with empty cola cans and plastic bags, indicates that a lot more needs to be done.

How best can the menace of littering be rooted out completely, and what are the measures that are best suited to the local environment? This is the question Khaleej Times put to a number of people, both members of the public and concerned officials.

"As far as the various measures are concerned, the situation as it exists in the emirate is a combination of punitive laws and educational campaign for the masses. But the municipal campaigns in this regard emphasise more on reduction of garbage, and encouragement of reuse and recycling of certain types of waste. Littering is yet to be made a singularly important issue, which it indeed is, as a way to start a campaign to educate the masses on the negative impact of this undesirable social behaviour," says Mohammed Muneer (name changed on request), a resident of Abu Hail.

He also points out that though punitive measures may be there in place, they are enforced on a very limited scale, and as such are ineffectual.

"How many people can you find who were penalised for littering? And looking at the scale at which littering still continues, it is not difficult to come to the conclusion that the population percentage of litterbugs is considerable," Mr Muneer contends.

Humayun R., a resident of Sharjah employed in a firm in Dubai, believes that punitive measures are very effective.

"And I say so on personal experience. In the five or six years that I have spent here, I was fined Dh100 once for tossing a cigarette butt on a sidewalk in Bur Dubai, and I have since become very conscious of my behaviour," he says.

He added that it was not just the money or inconvenience of taking time out from work to pay the fine at the municipality that put a stop to his status as a litterbug, but a sense of awareness that the fine evoked.

According to an official in the Environment Department at Dubai Municipality, the menace cannot be tackled with punitive measures alone, but also needs a sense of awareness and civic responsibility among members of the public.

"The size of the team of municipal inspectors and their duty period, the population and area involved, makes it clear that fines alone cannot curb this evil behaviour," he says.

The official noted that while punitive measures do help, they are meant to act as a back up for awareness drives on the issue aimed at members of the public and other such educational programmes.

Some of the steps the municipality has taken, as far as punitive action is concerned, involves the authorisation of certain civilians and officials to issue fines to violators of the regulations on littering.

"Education starts at home, and is then carried forward to schools," said Muneera K., a housewife. "We should first of all teach our children to stop littering and then expect the officials to keep a check on cleanliness," she said.

"Schools can play a great role in creating awareness among children, and they should keep on holding awareness campaigns," she added.

Meanwhile, the Sharjah Municipality is making efforts to protect parks and green areas from littering as part of the civic body's plans to preserve the beautiful image of the city, Mohammed Hussain, Head of the Security Section of Sharjah Municipality, said.

Mr Hussain called upon the public to cooperate with the civic body and help curbing such prohibited practices after registering more than 238 violations during July and August according to a report released by the security section. "Violating the public hygiene regulations based on the local order No. 1 of 1989, would damage green areas and cause adverse impacts on the hygienic conditions in the city," he explained.

Mohammed Yousaf, Head of Waste Section in Ajman Municipality said, "The municipality levies a fine, depending on the nature of littering (minimum Dh500). The municipality workers work 24 hours throughout the emirate to keep the city clean." Mr Yousaf also said that the municipality has installed different sign posts in the emirate to warn the violators. "An awareness campaign has also been initiated in the emirate," he added.