Dubai will soon launch its annual environment campaign that will focus on banning wearing the controversial Wizar dress and sleeping on the pavements in a bid to eliminate what it terms as negative images in the emirate.
Officials supervising the campaign, which will be launched on December 7, hope the emirate will be able in the next five years to completely eliminate wearing Wizar, a piece of cloth wrapped around the lower part of the body.
Wizar, worn mostly by Asians, has triggered criticism by officials and the public over the past years on the grounds it exposes legs and other parts of the body in violation of local rules which advocate decency in public places.
The environment emergency office at the Dubai Municipality will manage the two-month campaign, entitled “A city without violations in 2012.”
“Eliminating wrong practices and environmental offences is feasible in case all parties join hands and work together,” the office’s director, Khaled Salitin, said.
“We hope that within the next five years we will be able to completely eliminate the phenomenon of Wizar-wearing in Dubai’s streets because this practice is one of the most serious violations of the city’s civilization.”
Quoted by the Dubai-based Emirat Alyoum Arabic language daily, Salitin said the campaign would also focus on combating spitting in public, sleeping on pavements and beaches and playing football in parks and other green areas.
“We will conduct massive inspection drives in many areas, including workers living quarters, fish markets, Owair and harbours, to ensure no one will spit in public…our inspectors will distribute booklets and place stickers in many places warning against spitting in public and other malpractices.”’