Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), the only free zone dedicated to international higher education and a member of Tecom Investments, has decided to reserve 5 per cent parking space for low-emitting, fuel efficient vehicles and hybrid cars.

The initiative is aimed at reducing carbon emissions and raising public awareness on environment, said a DIAC official.

'Aimed at reducing carbon emissions at the academic cluster, DIAC will allot five per cent of the total basement parking bays next to the building entrances for ‘green cars’. Lower emission vehicles include not only hybrid or electric cars but also mass produced vehicles by some automobile manufacturers,' said Dr Ayoub Kazim, executive director, DIAC.

'The special parking bays for low emission cars come as part of our commitment to comply with Tecom Investments’ Sustainable Development Policy. Our aim is to raise awareness on ‘cleaner’ automobiles and motivate people to buy and use those vehicles that utilize green-friendly and fuel efficient technology,' he noted.

“As the region’s leading academic cluster, we regard our ethical responsibility includes educating and informing the community about the benefits of cleaner and greener technologies to preserve the environment. It is also our firm belief that organizations can enormously benefit by adopting similar measures that contribute to promoting environment-friendly practices.”

The green car parking initiative is being implemented in association with Tecom's Sustainable Energy and Environment Division (SEED).

Ali bin Towaih, executive director of Seed, Tecom Investments, said: “The ‘green car’ initiative at DIAC is one of the first in the region and re-affirms Tecom Investment’s leadership role in this area. DIAC’s pioneering move will effectively end the debate on whether to make green cars available in Dubai first or to introduce facilities that support green cars.'

'Our sustainable development policy and the systematic implementation have thus created a whole new clean-technology system in the region that will leave a positive impact on the economy, environment and the society,” he noted.

Basement car parks are preferred by DIAC community and due to the ‘first-come-first-served’ policy, none of the car parks are reserved for private parking. Only the parking bays for ‘green cars’ are exclusively reserved for the privileged owners of such vehicles.-TradeArabia News Service