4.27 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

Dubai steps up fight to curb street merchants

Washing cars in squares and parking lots is against the law in the UAE. (OSAMA ABUGHANIM)

Published
By Mohammed Elsidafy

In the Egyptian film Hammam in Amsterdam, comedian Mohammed Henaidy plays an unemployed man who offers bike parking slots to the employees of a government department.

Fiction has almost become fact in the real-life UAE, where the difficulty of finding a place to leave the car in city centres has created a new category of enterprising individual who help drivers to find parking spaces.

They also wash cars, while others sell watches, lighters, mobile top-up cards and both legitimate and banned DVD movies on pavements.

But many of these people are breaking labour laws. Most, either entered the country on visit visas that have since expired or were left to cope on their own after being laid off by employers, or crossed the UAE’s borders illegally.

When darkness falls a phantom army of car washers can be seen across the emirates carrying out their work away from the eyes of police and municipality inspectors – in violation of the country’s laws.

Dubai Municipality estimates that 50 per cent of those caught entered the UAE on a visit visa but stayed on. And some 20 per cent are infiltrators, who enter the country through the border with Oman or sea borders.

Another 20 per cent entered with work visas but had to find new ways to earn a living after their sponsor companies encountered problems.

That army of car washers includes watchmen who boost their incomes by washing vehicles belonging to the residents of the buildings they patrol – and sometimes those of neighbouring buildings.

According to Dubai Municipality estimates, violators from India make up 60 per cent of those caught, Bangladeshi nationals 30 per cent and people with other nationalities the remaining 10 per cent.

Many car washers take advantage of the low number of parking lots in some emirates – especially Dubai – by reserving spaces and offering them to motorists who then pay to have their cars washed.

A washer who reserves a space for a motorist and washes the car is paid for both services – reserving the spaces and washing the vehicle.

Washing cars in squares and parking lots is against the law as it leaves dirty water and pollution from detergents that can harm the environment and endanger public health.

The penalty for this violation varies depending on the circumstances. If the offender has broken residency laws by staying on after the expiry of a visit visa or by entering the country illegally he will face deportation and a two-year ban on re-entry.

If he has absconded from a sponsor he will be returned to the sponsor and his situation will be resolved either through deportation or by returning to his job.

The authorities have given those without visas repeated opportunities to regularise their positions but violators can still be found throughout the emirates.

Emirates Business spoke to many car washers in Dubai and Sharjah and discovered that some had employment visas when they entered the country. But after a period of time their companies went out of business and their sponsors made them choose between returning to their home countries or managing their situation themselves.

Some entered the country with a visit visa and exceeded the period of time they were allowed to stay and found themselves obliged to wash cars in public places.

“I came to the UAE under the sponsorship of a company in the plastics industry,” said Mohammed Rashid, a 25-year-old single Bangla­deshi. “After a year the sponsor, who is in Ras Al Khaimah, said the company was temporarily stopping its activities and he would call me if he needed me again.

“So I was obliged to wash cars in different parts of Dubai and Sharjah. It is true I am not married but I still have to earn my living in the UAE and pay for food and accommodation.”

Mohammed Shafiq, a 40-year-old Bangladeshi, who is married with two children, said: “I came to the country five years ago and work as an office boy at a car rental company. I work also as a car washer after I finish my job at 5pm. I wash five cars daily for Dh10 per car.”

Mahmoud Doshim, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi who supports three sons and his parents, works for a building maintenance company and washes cars in the evening. He washes as many as 15 cars daily and is paid Dh5 for each. He said he had been chased many times by police and municipality officials.

Statistics from Dubai Municipality’s Market Management Section show the number of violators rose from 3,511 in 2007 to 3,919 in 2008. And during the first nine months of this year 1,961 violating pedlars, 611 beggars, 178 butchers and 287 car washers have been seized.

In September alone 43 violating pedlars (39 men and four women), 123 beggars (114 men and nine women), 14 car washers (all men) and 13 violating butchers were arrested.

Section Head Obaid Ibrahim Al Marzouqi attributed the presence of what he described as “parasitic jobs” in the country to bad economic conditions in many neighbouring Arab and Asian countries, among other factors.

In addition, many communities in the country support their violating countrymen. He said officials dealt with violators in a “very human way” when they arrested them and took them to police stations.

The violators are held, while their legal situation is examined and those who have contravened the law are deported.

Mohammed Rafeeq Nasr, the section’s Social Control Senior Supervisor, said some people who were caught and deported later re-entered the country illegally.

“A woman Arab national was caught begging near a hotel in Dubai and deported. A few months later the same beggar was seized in the same area. When she was sent to the police station, she asked an officer who was on duty to call her husband who was a resident of Dubai. When the husband came the officer was shocked to see him arriving at the police station in a luxury car. “Since most of them are deported when they are caught, many try to run away when they see our team members. Some even try to attack team members – this happened with Jamal Hussein, an Egyptian, and Hassan Darwish, a UAE national, who suffered minor injuries when they tried to arrest a violator.

“A watchman who is caught washing cars in a public place or square is considered a violator. But if he does it in an area belonging to the building that he guards his work will not be a violation.”

The section also monitors unlicensed charity collection boxes, which are usually found in malls. Societies must have a licence from the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department.

The police are told about the monthly campaigns to find violators in advance so that they assign officers to accompany municipality staff. Dr Mohammed Murad, Director of Dubai Police’s Decision Support Centre, said the parasitic jobs phenomenon started in 2000 when a large number of labourers were laid off.

“The problem has been made worse by the international financial crisis which affected a number of sectors, including real estate,” he added. “Also some people who entered the UAE on visit visas did not leave the country.”

CIVIC INSPECTORS

A team assigned by Dubai Municipality’s Market Management Section to track down violators consists of 13 people – a supervisor, seven male inspectors, three female inspectors and two drivers.

It carries out regular campaigns at different times of day in co-operation with Dubai Police. The biggest obstacle the team faces is that its members do not have the power of judicial seizure.

RECOMMENDATION TO SET UP SPECIAL DEPARTMENT

A security study on infiltration and its security implications compiled by Major Hader Khalifa bin Thalith of the Decision Support Centre recommended the setting up of a department to tackle the problem.

In addition Bin Thalith said the inspection programme should be intensified and the penalties for infiltrators  increased. And lookout posts should be set up in the locations used most by infiltrators.

The study identified nine factors that contributed to the problem of infiltration:

1. The country’s natural characteristics such as bays, valleys and mountains

2. The length of the coastline – 700km on the Arabian Gulf side and 90km on the Gulf of Oman side

3. The coasts are close to countries from which infiltrators come

4. The dense populations of many Asian countries are also to blame

5. Active trade movement between the UAE and neighbouring countries

6. Assistance given to infiltrators by some UAE residents

7. Offers of low-salary jobs made to infiltrators by some companies

8. Poor economic conditions in many of the countries where infiltrators come from

9. The lenient penalties imposed on infiltrators when they are caught

 

Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.