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2,500 special parking permits approved

Dubai - DHA approves or rejects requests within a day

The Dubai Health Authority's (DHA) General Medical Committee has approved more than 2,500 requests for special parking permits for people with disabilities, a top health official said.

Dr Khaldoon Walid Nabhan, senior medical audit analyst and vice-chairperson of the General Medical Committee (GMC) at the DHA said that from 2009 until 2015, the GMC has received 3,347applications, of which they rejected 720 requests and approved 2,627 requests.

Nabhan said that since 2015, the GMC has either approved or rejected the request within one working day. Nabhan said: "The Dubai Government cares for people with disabilities and allocates the most convenient parking closest to buildings and ramps for them, provided they have the handicapped stickers on their cars.

The stickers are issued free of cost by the RTA, provided the General Medical Committee approves the applicant's request. The DHA's General Medical Committee cooperates with the licensing agency of the RTA to ensure smooth and efficient approval of such requests. Applicants submit the diagnosis of their disease and a report from the treating physician and based on each case, the GMC approves the request for a particular category. The RTA provides four kinds of stickers for people with disabilities depending on the category they fall under. The stickers are categorised as blue, red, green and yellow. Blue is for individuals who have permanent disabilities, red for temporary immobility which is limited to one year, green for vehicles belonging to organisations for people with disabilities and yellow for tourists with disabilities."

Khaldon said: "Of the 2,627 applications approved, 2,073 permits were issued for those with permanent disabilities. We issued 228 permits for those with temporary disabilities such as injuries and fractures. The validity of such permits is limited to a year. We issued 161 chronic disability permits, such permits are limited to parking spots in 116 hospitals, and health centres in Dubai. RTA directly issued the remaining 165 permits for senior citizens."

reporters@khaleejtimes.com