An International City resident shows a traffic fine issued on October 9, 2022. EXPAT MEDIA

International City residents raised alarm after new rounds of parking fines were issued on Sunday (October 9), with increasing traffic police patrols in the area in recent weeks. Residents have raised concern, saying they are paying a hefty price for the parking shortage in the area while commercial vehicles continue to illegally take up parking spots here. “I received a fine today at 8:11am. I couldn’t find parking space last night even as I waited for nearly 30 minutes just after 10pm so I was forced to park by the roadside. I moved my car just a few minutes after 8am. But you can see that even at this time the parking area is fully occupied, majority of the parking slots are taken up by abandoned trucks that have been left here for months, other commercial vehicles and even school buses,” a resident told Expatmedia.net. "I received two parking fines for one car alone in just two weeks," she added. The popular residential neighbourhood has been suffering from severe parking shortage for years, with commercial vehicles such as pickup trucks, minibuses and school buses contributing to the shortage of parking spots in the residential area. In recent weeks, residents have reported receiving traffic fines of Dh500 for illegal parking. A Nakheel representative also confirmed to Expatmedia.net that residents reported receiving the fines from Dubai Police in the last two weeks. “I received parking fines for two vehicles earlier this week. We didn’t have any choice but to park on the curb, and by the roadside because there are just no more parking spots even as early at 7pm. You can see all these big trucks parked here instead,” said Omar (full name withheld), who also runs a printing office in International City’s Morocco cluster. Long-time International City resident Florence (full name withheld) said she has repeatedly raised the issue of parking shortage to Nakheel but is still waiting for a clear resolution to the problem. “It’s not fair that residents have to suffer because of commercial vehicles illegally taking up all the parking slots here. Many of them are left abandoned in the same parking spots for weeks. I hope Nakheel can coordinate with police to do something about this soon,” Florence said. Signboards in International City clearly state, “No parking for pickups and heavy vehicles in residential areas”. However, residents still find pickup trucks and other commercial vehicles parked in the area, many abandoned there for a long time. A Nakheel representative told Expatmedia.net that the developer is looking into the issue, and also advised residents to report commercial vehicles for illegal parking through the Dubai Police app, or by email to help@nakheelcommunities.com along with photos and plate number details of offending vehicles. Email sizes must not exceed 8mb. Residents can also call Nakheel on the hotline 800 6254335 (800 NAKHEEL). ICA/Expat Media
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