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28 March 2024

Tecom parking permit woes: Motorists see red in Dubai Media, Internet City

Published
By Bindu Suresh Rai

A strange sight greeted those working in Knowledge Village, Dubai Media and Internet City on Sunday morning; the daily struggle to find a vacant parking spot had given way to empty lots as the Tecom community implemented paid permit zones over the weekend.

For people who had failed to secure valid Roads and Transports Authority permits by their respective employers in the free zone had no choice but to desert cars at home or cough up the fines that would be levied upon them if parked in these exclusive zones.

Many workers voiced their displeasure, complaining over the added burden of cost, along with limited parking permits leaving several of them in the lurch of being unable to accommodate their cars at work.

An employee with MBC spoke to Emirates 24|7 on the condition of anonymity, saying: “We have a staff of over 1,000 commuting with cars to work every day, while our organisation has been allotted 850 parking spaces.

“At least we are in a better position than most, because the office has agreed to shoulder half of the employee cost for these parking permits, while the remaining 50 per cent needs to be paid by us.”

In an official correspondence to its staff, MBC, laid out its limitations, saying: ‘Media City will provide us 550 spaces at Dh2,075 each. This is clearly insufficient. However, we have been able to purchase a further 400 spaces at Media One hotel and Al Shatta Towers.

‘These are more expensive and have cost us Dh4,500 for each space. In total, we, therefore, now have access to 950 spaces’.

MBC’s partly subsidised parking proposal still leaves its employees with an annual bill of Dh1,800 if choosing a spot near the office or Dh900 per year if taking the further location, which is “a 10 minute walk easily to the office,” said the frustrated employee.

And those employees who are willing to fork over the extra amount to avoid the daily trek would still have to wait for their number, as MBC stated it may ‘have to ration the spaces. We will do the rationing based on grade seniority and gender (with preference for ladies as we wish to avoid them having to walk across the park late at night).

‘If you wish to car pool – you will clearly save money’.

“Our company has also agreed upon employing shuttle buses from the Media One lot at a duration of every 20 minutes or so to avoid us the walk to work in the scorching summer heat,” he added. “But between paying approximately Dh400 per month for parking my car at work, additionally to the Dh200 I spend for parking at my residence, it’s a cheaper proposition for me to sell off my car and commute with a taxi to my office on a daily basis.”

Such a dilemma is not limited to MBC staff employees alone; R M who works with Thomson Reuters said: “I didn’t drive to work on Sunday over this parking issue that RTA has left us with. Our company employees over 200 people and between us, we have approximately 60 permits.

“Our HR department is working round the clock trying to sort out the issue, but what can the gameplan be? We have to pay or leave our cars at home.

“What I fail to understand is the lack of planning that went into this decision. How can you start issuing parking permits for companies when you don’t have enough spaces to allocate?”

For Srinivas Karuturi, his eight-employee organisation in DIC has managed to bag all of one permit; the remaining seven can fend for themselves.

“The law states that one parking permit will be issued for every 400 square feet of office space; our office is 667 sq ft,” he said. “I have no solution but to circle around the free zone every morning, hoping to find a spot in street parking. Even that turns into a costly affair or Dh11 for four hours. You pull an eight-hour shift at office and be ready to set yourself back by Dh22 every day; if you cross Salik, then do the math.”

Public transport

In an emailed statement to Emirates 24|7, Badr Al Gargawi, CEO of Engineering at Tecom Investments, cited this move “as a response to increasing traffic congestion in Dubai Internet City, Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai Media City,” adding that the reason behind this initiative was to “provide a more efficient solution to the ever-increasing demand for parking in these locations.”

He continued: “As an alternative to driving, there are several public transport options available, including the metro, bus and taxis. There is also the opportunity to car pool.

“The three business parks are all only a short walk from Dubai Metro and the area is accessible by feeder buses. Bus lines 83, 85, 32A and 39A service the district.

“The RTA will keep monitoring the situation in order to try and ensure public transport is both helpful and affordable.”

However, employees working in the Tecom zone appear not convinced.

Rajan Shetty who works in DIC said: “If I resort to commuting via the Dubai Metro and resorting to the feeder buses, I am easily adding an additional four hours to my daily commute, back and forth.

“And I am saying this from experience because I attempted a few practice rounds when news first broke of the parking permit law that was to be implemented.”

Shetty, who lives in Karama, stated that he has to take a feeder bus to the metro station in the district, which is an “easy 30 minute process”, followed by another 40 minutes that take to get to the Media City metro station.

“The feeder bus wait is usually an average of 20 minutes, followed by the same time spent getting to my office. And it doesn’t drop me under my building, so I spend another few minutes making my way to work.”

Karuturi added: “I live in Tecom itself but a taxi fare sets me back Dh25 daily; and if I attempt using the metro or bus, I have to spend at least an added hour in commute considering the public transport has yet to be fully utilised here.

“Added to that is the lack of shades at bus stops in DIC, DMC and DKV; in the summer months you literally are in danger of suffering from a heat stroke.

 “People also suggest carpooling, but that isn’t an option for me either. So what choice am I really left with?”

(With additional inputs from Majorie Van Leijen) 

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