The newspapers in UAE are known at times for its conflicting reports, which always end up with the poor readers getting the short end of the stick. Today, it was the turn of the Khaleej Times readers to find out all that they read is not true.
On 19th January 2007, Khaleej Times published a news item (see pic) clearly stating "SHARJAH/DUBAI – Residents will be exempt from paying parking fees for two days of the Islamic New Year on January 20 and 21. All the pre-paid parking in Sharjah and Dubai will be free on Saturday and Sunday.
Was it a practical joke? Guess so! The readers of KT had to find out the hard way as field inspectors had a field day issuing fines of AED 150 per car without the parking ticket all over the city. Whereas Gulf News, on the other hand did mention parking was free only on Sunday! (See Pic).
Sultan Al Kutbi, the RTA's Acting Director for Road Fees and Parking, said there were no plans to let motorists off paying the fines. "We announced in the newspapers that it would be only Sunday. In Sharjah it is Saturday and Sunday, but for us it's only Sunday. We [the public sector] are getting a holiday on Sunday." He said parking meters clearly state when parking is free, so motorists who check the display will know whether they have to pay or not.
Will KT offer a refund to all its affected readers? Or do readers just have to swallow the fact April's Fool came a little too early and pay for the joke from their pockets too?
The whole incident can be only well summarized by Samuel Butler, British poet and satirist who stated:
Related Articles:
No parking fee - Khaleej Times
Confused motorists pay a heavy price - Gulf News
On 19th January 2007, Khaleej Times published a news item (see pic) clearly stating "SHARJAH/DUBAI – Residents will be exempt from paying parking fees for two days of the Islamic New Year on January 20 and 21. All the pre-paid parking in Sharjah and Dubai will be free on Saturday and Sunday.
Was it a practical joke? Guess so! The readers of KT had to find out the hard way as field inspectors had a field day issuing fines of AED 150 per car without the parking ticket all over the city. Whereas Gulf News, on the other hand did mention parking was free only on Sunday! (See Pic).
Sultan Al Kutbi, the RTA's Acting Director for Road Fees and Parking, said there were no plans to let motorists off paying the fines. "We announced in the newspapers that it would be only Sunday. In Sharjah it is Saturday and Sunday, but for us it's only Sunday. We [the public sector] are getting a holiday on Sunday." He said parking meters clearly state when parking is free, so motorists who check the display will know whether they have to pay or not.
Will KT offer a refund to all its affected readers? Or do readers just have to swallow the fact April's Fool came a little too early and pay for the joke from their pockets too?
The whole incident can be only well summarized by Samuel Butler, British poet and satirist who stated:
"The most important service rendered by the press and the magazines is that of educating people to approach printed matter with distrust."
A Parking Ticket issued on 20 Jan, 2007
A Parking Ticket issued on 20 Jan, 2007Related Articles:
No parking fee - Khaleej Times
Confused motorists pay a heavy price - Gulf News
3 comments:
Thanks for visiting my blog earlier.
I was board and was searching through the blogs and since I have this bad habit of typing “Iraq” in the search bar to judge the blogger I decided to stay and read more after seeing the results under Iraq’s name in your posts.
I usually don’t feel interested in reading posts for those who don’t feel for others and don’t give opinions about the world’s events. Basically we call them Naimeen bil 3asal. I was quite impressed to see the result under Iraq’s name and after reading your opinion, I was already hooked. I just wish I’m not so depressed to read more of your posts.
damn...talk bout trustin media completely...man..its like a pun on da situation...kt is completely responsible...but dat police dude actually made sense wer if ppl are a lil more aware den it wud hav saved dem da trouble..but den a news publish is like a blindfold man..if dey hav seen it in da paper how many of dem wud actually bother checkin da display of da tcket machine..!!
how in the world do these bloody papers get away with it?!!!
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