Discovery Gardens: your dish is channel to a fine

Residents of Discovery Gardens are likely to be served with notices and even fines if they have set up “illegal” satellite dish antennas, Emirates 24|7 can reveal.

“As the master developer, we are working closely with Trakhees to undertake formal compliance notices and take enforcement action,” a Nakheel spokesperson said.

Dish antennas pepper the landscape in Discovery Gardens, as residents look for cheaper options to cable television.

According to the spokesperson, Nakheel still bars residents from setting up dish antennas in balconies and on terraces or even outside windows of apartments.

“No, dish antennas are not permitted to be placed in the balconies,” the spokesperson confirmed.

The current estimated population in Discovery Gardens is 40,000, Nakheel said.

A number of residents, who spoke to this website, said they were not aware that setting up dish antennas was illegal and that they could face penalties.

A resident, on conditions of anonymity, said:  “We have no other option, but to subscribe to local television packages now. And they are costly compared to satellite channels we get through these dish antennas.”

A Dish TV package, beamed through a provate sattellite dish antenna, costs between Rs2,500 to Rs3,000 (Dh200 to Dh 240) for a year, with a bouquet of Indian channels on offer.

“I am ready to take a risk, but will not pay more,” he added.

SK, an Indian resident, staying in the Zen cluster of Discovery Gardens, said: “My landlord has taken a guarantee from me that I will be responsible for paying any penalty as a result of the dish.

“I had set up the dish antenna some time back, but till date, I have not been fined nor have I seen any notices in the community barring installation of such antennas.”

A Nakheel security personal said that they survey the community and do report the matter.

“It is up to them to take action,” the officer said.

Trakhees is the regulatory arm of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation in Dubai.

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