Laws and Penalties Maintaining Public Facilities
Muscat Municipality has enacted laws and legislations to ensure the protection of public facilities from the hands of those who tamper, and based on local order no. (32/97) on the protection of public facilities of Muscat Municipality. Article (2) stipulates that it is prohibited for any person to perform any act that would damage the municipal facilities and their equipment and supplies, whether by tampering, crushing, vandalism, etc. In particular, it is prohibited to alter or damage the irrigation systems and water connections, toilet supplies and connections, electricity and water meters, telephones, chairs, sunshades, games, lighting and their equipment, parks, squares, public squares and streets, address boards and signboards, and any other equipment belonging to municipal facilities.
Article (3) of the same local ordinance also stipulates that it is prohibited for any person-except authorized persons – to perform any of the following acts to the municipal facilities: picking or pulling flowers, climbing trees, cutting branches or breaking them, whether in gardens, parks or public streets, walking on wet green areas or doing any activity or work that leads to damage to plants, lighting a fire under trees or in a place prepared for walking in such a way as to deface or damage the place or harass the public, washing or swimming in public fountains or lakes, entering or tampering with pump rooms, writing or drawing on fences, doors, walls and fittings of buildings belonging to municipal utilities, driving bicycles or cars in parks, parks or on public beaches.
Article No. (4) also clarified that: anyone who frequently visits parks or playgrounds is prohibited from doing any act that causes inconvenience to the rest of the visitors, such as raising the sound of the radio or musical instruments, and he is also prohibited from doing any act that scratches modesty or contrary to public order or taste.
Article No. (5) stipulates that it is prohibited for any person to leave his children under the age of twelve unattended while they are in public parks or playgrounds, followed by Article No. (6) that it is prohibited for anyone to take animals to parks, squares and public parks.
Article (9) also stipulates that the municipality may determine the opening hours for visiting parks and determine the days and times when certain categories or categories of visitors are allowed to visit in accordance with the public interest or whenever necessary. The municipality may also issue internal regulatory instructions for those places, provided that those instructions are written on boards placed in visible places.