Free car parks for the elderly in Sharjah

Based on the vision and directives of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, to meet the needs of the elderly, the Sharjah City Municipality announced the provision of 1,146 free annual subscriptions for the elderly.

This came as part of the municipality’s initiative to exempt the elderly from public parking fees and allowing them to park in all car parks at all times. The initiative was launched on January 19.

According to Khalid Bin Falah Al Suwaidi, Assistant Director General for Customer Service Sector, the municipality started providing these subscriptions virtually via its website in line with its digital orientations and its bid to provide its services to the public in an easy and simplified manner that saves their time and effort.

As far as the conditions are concerned, Ali Ahmed Abu Gazin, Director of Public Parking Department, said the applicant should be a UAE national of 60 years of age or more and should not use the car parks allocated for people of determination or other parking areas booked for trading companies.

Each family will be given one subscription for one elderly beneficiary, he added, noting that these subscriptions allow the elderly to benefit from 50,000 car parks all over Sharjah City.

Recently, Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and Chairman of Sharjah Executive Council (SEC), chaired the Council’s meeting at the Sharjah Ruler’s office, in the presence of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Salem Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and Deputy Chairman of the SEC.

Several topics on its agenda on various sectors and plans to develop government services in line with the development in the Emirate of Sharjah were discussed.

The council reviewed the strategic plan to follow up the membership of the Emirate of Sharjah in WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities including its objectives to provide an environment for the elderly through developing all capabilities to perform all activities and services that ensure the integration of the elderly in society.

The council set several objectives, including the development of the initiatives and services provided for the elderly, enhancing the responsibility of the private sector towards the elderly, spreading the culture of Age-Friendly City’s standards in Sharjah, among other things.