Abu Dhabi motorists say they’ll move home to beat new parking regulations
A law which ends free parking in Abu Dhabi from Saturday has prompted many motorists in the capital to look for another place to live.
Residents said the change in regulations left them with little choice but to move to an area where parking is free.
From Saturday, anyone living in the city will be required to pay between Dh800 and Dh1,200 for a year’s residential permit to park outside their house.
Some say difficulties in obtaining the right permit from Mawaqif – the parking body responsible for the change – has led to them to abandon the idea of staying.
Motorists said that in order to obtain the right permit they needed to present their landlord rental agreements, but that in many cases that was impossible.
Nasr Raed, a geological engineer, said he moved into Al Mushrif two months before the change to the law was announced.
The Palestinian, 27, said he was now looking to live elsewhere to avoid fines once the law took effect.
“Right after I moved they announced they will be bringing Mawaqif to the area,” he said.
“The only solution is to move to Khalifa City, where there is no paid parking.”
The Mawaqif parking management system was introduced to Abu Dhabi in 2009 and now covers large areas of the city.
Authorities allowed some free parking bays to remain, and it is these areas that will be scrapped.
The new law will also apply to large plots of derelict government land – sand lots – where parking was free.
On Thursday, officials from the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport said the changes would reduce the time motorists spent searching for spaces and “support the use of public transport”.
A three-week period to allow motorists to adapt to the rules will start on Saturday, officials said.
Belal Abu Kbash, 27, said he planned to move from Abu Dhabi island to Khalifa City as a result of the new law.
He said given that there were 15 people sharing the villa he rented, he doubted the land- lord would issue copies of the rental agreement to every tenant.
“So escaping is the best solution. Come September 1, I’ll be out of here. My contract expires on August 31, so it is perfect timing,” he said.
Alaa Qadasi, 43, a banker from Jordan, said it took him three hours of queuing to obtain a permit from authorities last week.
He said that once he found out about the new regulations he sold two of his family’s four cars.
“There were around 300 people all applying when I went to get my permits,” he said.
“I’m not prepared to pay Dh1,200 for each car, so I’ve sold two of them.
“I managed to get permits for the other two cars but I have a boat parked outside my house as well.
“If Mawaqif end up towing that away one day I’ll have to go back and see them.”