1,400 fined in four months in Sharjah for hanging laundry over balconies

Drying clothes on balconies or out of windows brings a Dh250 fine, which doubles if not paid within a week.

SHARJAH // More than 1,400 people have been fined in Sharjah for hanging laundry on balconies or out of apartment windows.

Between January and April, 1,402 fines were issued, said Riyadh Abdullah Eilan, the acting director general of Sharjah Municipality.

"This campaign was ordered by the ruler of Sharjah out of his concern to preserve public health and the aesthetic image of the emirate," Mr Eilan said.

"We are very keen to deliver on a clean emirate without clothes hanging in windows and we have inspectors in most residential areas, especially where this practice is common."

Last year the municipality issued 4,834 fines. Anyone caught hanging clothes in public is fined Dh250. This is doubled if not paid within a week.

He urged people to call the municipality's free hotline on 993 to report rule-breakers. Operators have been instructed to dispatch an inspector immediately.

Many believe the fines handed out for drying clothes are too high.

"I cannot afford to take every cloth to the laundry and drying them in the house is not effective," said one resident, Ahmad.

"What I do now is to put them on the balcony at night and remove them early in the morning. The humidity is enough to dry them and at night no harm can be done to the emirate's image."

Hashmi Baqari, who lives in the Rolla neighbourhood, said fining residents who continued to break the rules was justified because the municipality had given more than enough warnings.

"We all want a smart home and a smart city to live in," he said. "We need to participate in keeping our city clean as we participate in keeping our homes clean.

"One of these days I will check out those putting up clothes in windows and report them myself."