DUBAI: Anyone who has driven to Dubai and parked in districts such as Barsha and Barsha Heights will be all too familiar with the experience of finding various business cards advertising apparent “massage” services left on the car windows.
But this could soon be a thing of the past with new rules proposed by Dubai authorities that would see venders face stricter fines of up to 10,000 dirhams ($2,720) and immediate deportation.
In some districts in Dubai it is not uncommon for a motorist to park their vehicle, leave it for a few minutes, and return to find a selection of various cards advertising massage services, with photographs of women in various forms of undress.
The cards are left on vehicles by small teams, or individuals, who walk around the streets, quickly leaving an assortment of the offending items on the windows.
Abdul Majeed Abdul Aziz Al-Saifaie, director of the Waste Management Department, told UAE daily Gulf News that his department has drafted proposals requesting the amending of existing rules.
Under the new proposals people caught leaving the cards on vehicles, or at people’s apartments would face immediate deportation.
A fine of 10,000 dirhams would be imposed on licensed massage parlors committing the offense – the fine is currently 500 dirhams ($27).
Al-Saifaie said in many cases the people leaving the cards were also breaching residency laws.
“They don’t have resident visas or they are here on visit visas looking for jobs. So, our proposal is to deport them immediately,” he explained.
The proposals follow an ongoing battle against the problem, which has been the cause for thousands of complaints from residents who are fed up with finding the various cards left on their vehicles, or pushed under the doors of their apartments, often being picked up by young children.