Abu Dhabi municipality has increased the on-the-spot fine for spitting in the public, local daily 7Days reported on Tuesday.
Those caught spitting in public in the UAE capital will be slapped with a whopping AED 1,000 ($272) penalty under a new fines structure to be unveiled shortly.
The new fine for spitting is five times that for jaywalking and AED 100 ($27.2) more than the maximum that can be imposed for illegally modifying a car.
According to Khalifa Al Romaithi, chief of the public health department, the municipality’s crackdown on spitting has been successful in reducing the problem in Abu Dhabi.
The number of offences has plummeted from 8,000 last year to 750 in the first eight months of this year, he said.
Al Romaithi warned that the fines could go even higher in the future. “Consider the fact that removing just one thrown piece of chewing gum from the road costs the state nearly AED 4,” he said.
Those caught spitting in public in the UAE capital will be slapped with a whopping AED 1,000 ($272) penalty under a new fines structure to be unveiled shortly.
The new fine for spitting is five times that for jaywalking and AED 100 ($27.2) more than the maximum that can be imposed for illegally modifying a car.
According to Khalifa Al Romaithi, chief of the public health department, the municipality’s crackdown on spitting has been successful in reducing the problem in Abu Dhabi.
The number of offences has plummeted from 8,000 last year to 750 in the first eight months of this year, he said.
Al Romaithi warned that the fines could go even higher in the future. “Consider the fact that removing just one thrown piece of chewing gum from the road costs the state nearly AED 4,” he said.