(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Bai municipality mulls law to make private sector share in government efforts soft landscaping and the irrigation network in dubai will get a boost with over dh6 billion earmarked for them as part of the dubai municipality’s efforts to make the emirate a “green paradise” by 2025 officials said on tuesday. new legislation is also being planned to ensure the private sector mainly the big developers and private property owners shares the onus of expanding the green belt in the city.“we have plans for giant projects by 2025 which includes the expansion of sewer lines and the irrigation network” said salah abdul rahman amiri assistant director-general of the dubai municipality.“these are mainly concentrated on preparations for expo 2020 as we want to make dubai a green paradise” amiri told khaleej times on the sidelines of the second annual middle east smart landscape summit 2014.as reported by kt last month the municipality’s “dubai 2020” vision has projected 12200 hectares of green space through landscaping and horticulture projects.amiri in charge of the environment and public heath services sectors said over dh3 billion would be spent on improving and expanding the irrigation network by 2025 which would bolster the landscaping projects.a stronger irrigation network is key to maintaining sustainable landscape projects he said: “we are having problems with sustainable landscaping. the challenge is mainly with water.”hessa ismail al attar principal landscape designer with the public parks and horticulture department said the low force of the water used for irrigation — which is treated waste water — posed challenges to landscape projects in some areas in dubai.taleb abdulkarim julfar director of the department said along with improving the irrigation network the civic body is also trying to reduce the demand on water for landscaping.“since we are expanding (landscaped areas) we need to control water consumption as well. otherwise we will run short of water in the next two to three years. so we are redesigning and using a lot of materials like special sand and stones to reduce water consumption and prevent the ground water from coming up and spoiling the plants” he said.with the municipality spending about dh300 million yearly for soft landscaping which includes maintaining small parks and roadside landscapes an investment of dh3 billion is expected to see the desert city bloom in the next 10 years.“around 45 million flower (plants) were planted in 2013 and we are expecting a five to 10 per cent increase depending on upcoming projects” said al attar.according to julfar 20 to 30 small park projects are in the pipeline to add to the green lungs of the desert city which currently boasts of about 7000 hectares of green space developed by the municipality and the private sector together.however the municipality is still contemplating legislation that will make the role of the private sector even bigger since the government alone cannot meet its target of keeping at least eight percent of the urban land green said amiri.though the legislation would make it mandatory for increasing the green area in private projects whether on the ground or over the roof amiri said the municipality does not intend to impose a heavy burden on the private sector.“we’d rather have better awareness so that they understand it is good for the sustainable development of their projects as well” amiri said.sajila?khaleejtimes.com
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