Dubai beaches to be revamped
Dubai's beaches could soon be divided into designated areas to keep jet skiers and parasailers away from swimmers, a top Dubai cop has said.
The head of Port Police Station, Colonel Abdullah Mohammad Al Mazyoud, said a special panel had been formed to look at the feasibility of creating separate
sections for different pastimes because of the increased number of beachgoers, boats and jet-ski riders.
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Dubai's beaches could soon be divided into designated areas to keep jet skiers and parasailers away from swimmers, a top Port cop has said
“We have formed a committee to look at dividing the beaches into different areas so swimmers can enjoy the beach without being bothered by jet-skis or people parasailing. We will give the study to the higher authorities to approve it later on,” Al Mazyoud said.
“There has been an increase in beachgoers. Last year 3.4 million people used the open beaches. There has also been an increase in people using jet skis and parasailing.”
Al Mazyoud said the biggest challenge for his team continues to be people harassing and annoying others on the beach.
“Usually we will first arrest someone who is annoying another person and ask them to sign a document vowing not to repeat the offence,” he said.
“In the last five months we have had 4,195 people sign such documents compared to 7,332 people for the whole of 2011.” Al Mazyoud also urged beach users to exercise caution, protect their belongings and not leave valuables on the sand while they swim.
“We had three thefts last year due to negligence from people who left their keys, mobile phones and wallets on the shore,” he said.
“People should also be careful while swimming and not swim at night. There are no lifeguards on the beaches at night. Parents should also monitor their children on the beaches to prevent a tragedy.”
Official records showed that 13 people drowned on Dubai beaches in 2011. So far this year four people have drowned and four were injured in sea accidents.
ali.shouk@7days.ae
Comments
by Emad
Wednesday, August 29 2012, 3:40PM
“There is a great solution for this.
There is this company known as 'Beach Chameleon,' who are installing 100 changing room units across the coastline of these beaches; from Jumeirah 1 all the way up to the JBR.
Any company or brand can communicate with the entire beach visiting audience of the Emirate and in this case, Dubai police can connect with all these beach goers.”
by JLT_Resident
Monday, July 23 2012, 1:31PM
“There is only one reason the jetskiers pose a threat to swimmers, and it's also the reason why these rules won't make the slightest difference. They deliberately come in close to the swimmers because they want to show off. Marking out difference sections won't change their desire to get up close and show off.
Also, unless this ruling has teeth that impacts everyone – i.e. such taking their jetskis off them, and threatening arrest if they either by a new one, or borrow one and continue to cause a nuisance – then there is a significant minority of the trouble makers who will just carry on with impunity.”
by ComConM
Sunday, July 01 2012, 11:21AM
“This is indeed a step in the right direction, but they should go further and introduce a law requiring that anyone riding a Jet Ski should have a Personal Watercraft license (PWC), so that there is a bit of common sense out on the water with regards to other boats and swimmers. You can't drive a car without a license and a Jet Ski can be just as dangerous.”
by britannia88
Wednesday, June 27 2012, 3:06PM
“This makes sense, it's fine to do high-speed watersports but it has to be in an area away from normal beachgoers and should be supervised. There's no reason people shouldn't be allowed to jet-ski, so at least now there'll be a place where they can do it. It's a long overdue initiative, but I suppose it's 'better late than never'.”