Dubai Municipality, Department of Economic Development joint inspection campaign targets illegal pesticide

The joint inspection and monitoring campaign organized by the Public Parks and Horticulture Department at Dubai Municipality in cooperation with the Department of Economic Development on horticulture companies resulted in issuing fines to 119 and seizure of 110 litres of pesticides non-compliant with specifications.

A total of 642 companies, including flower stalls, nurseries, fertilizer plants, and companies trading in horticultural pesticides, were inspected during the campaign. The offenders were caught to ensure the non-spreading of horticultural pests and to stop fraudulent practices and to provide greater protection to consumers. The campaign was held based on Local Order No. 54 of 1990 and Local Order No. 40 of 1989 and the Local Order 59 of 1991.

The campaign comes within the efforts undertaken by the Municipality on a daily basis to maintain the aesthetic and urban appearance of the emirate and within the framework of protecting the markets and consumers of low-quality goods and imitations.

The warehouses in the Karama area were caught for filling agricultural pesticides and liquid fertilizers from the original containers to other plastic containers of different sizes. The seizures include 10 pesticides (Vindona) in one litre containers, 71 insecticides (Mouseblan) in 100 grams packets, 93 refilled pesticide containers without any stickers indicating the capacity of the package, one 8-litre bottles of Target cockroach gel, and three rolls, each one with 620 empty plastic containers totalling 1,860 containers.

Warning notices were issued against horticultural activity without license by the Dubai Municipality and a fine of Dhs6,000 for the conduct of the activity at the site without license from the Department of Economic Development and confiscation of goods seized were destroyed at the disposal site for hazardous waste at Jebel Ali.

Efforts were also made during the campaign to reduce the spread of the phenomenon of random selling of date palm plants taken from unknown sources by controlling the cases of their sale by street vendors without a license in the residential areas and neighborhoods included in the campaign such as Oud Al Muteena, Al Khawaneej, Al Mizhar, Al Aweer, Al Hibab, Al Warqa, and Al Barsha.

The campaign also resulted in the seizure of nine vehicles used for the sale of date palm plants in these areas as 76 palm trees were for sale. All of these vehicles have been issued warning by Dubai Municipality for unlicensed horticultural activities and fines were issued by the Department of Economic Development.

The Public Parks and Horticulture Department at Dubai Municipality has called upon the public not to deal with these offenders in order to prevent this phenomenon as this practice is hazardous and leads to the trading of inferior types of palms and also helps in the spread of agricultural pests, especially red palm weevil. So when you buy any palm it should be through specialized companies licensed by the Municipality to be sure that the plants are from a trusted source. To make any comments or questions public can call the toll-free number 800900, as a group of inspectors will be on standby to receive communications from the Municipality Call Centre and solve them.