Kabul Municipality decision on parking fee hailed

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some Kabul residents have welcomed the municipality’s decision on car-parking fee.

The capital inhabitants hailed the Kabul Municipality’s move a good decision for the safety of their vehicles.

The municipality took the decision on charging those who park their vehicles on the side of roads for safety reasons.

Niamatullah Barakzai, spokesman for the municipality, told Pajhwok Afghan News that based on municipal regulations all roads of Kabul had parking spaces.

He said the parking lots were rented out on a contractual basis and the Kabul Municipality received a monthly rent.

Barakzai added the municipality reserved the right to receive some money for the services in public places such as roads and sidewalks, etc.

“Some mafia groups used to rent out sidewalks while they had no such rights. The Kabul Municipality alone reserves the right in case of need,” he remarked.

“This is common in all countries of the world. People should not bring their cars to the market if they don’t need to. They should walk to reduce congestion.

“And if they do so, they must look for a permanent parking lot because there are a lot of permanent parking lots in the city,” he added.

“People’s vehicles would be safe in every way, and if a car suffers even the slightest damage, the ticket-giving person will be held responsible.”

He said the Kabul municipality, as an independent budget institution, had its own revenue from various sectors and spent the revenue back on the city.

He added: “The vendors who are organized in Kabul City are paying the municipality some sort of service fee.”

Farhad Sarfaraz, hailing from Afsahr area, commended the decision and said: “The money collected in any area of the city is handed over to the municipality and used for reconstruction work.”

He said the money collected against services most not end up in the private pockets of specific individuals, and that the Kabul municipality would be able to discharge its responsibility properly by receiving the money.

Shahram Badakhsh, a resident of Kabul, said the people must pay the municipality employees against the protection of their cars parked but if they did not protect the money the collection could be extortion.

Sahil Lutfi, another inhabitant of the capital, said: “Previously, when I parked my car at the side of road, I would be worried about its safety. But now I’m happy that the municipality has taken steps initiated protect people’s vehicles.”

He added as a resident, he welcomed the decision of the Kabul municipality, because the city was facing a shortage of parking lots.

sa/mud

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