Caravan News
DUBAI — Taher Ali Maqbool of Pakistan working as a cleaner at the parking facility of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) for around a month, found a bag earlier in June, containing gold bars which weighed 15 kg, in a corner on the first floor of the parking facility and immediately called security staff of the RTA and handed over the bag.
Hailing from Chakri village near Sialkot city in Pakistan’s Punjab province said told Gulf News that the thought of keeping the solid gold bars, found in a black bag in a parking lot, never crossed his mind as he remembered what his father always told him.
“My father would say make sure your income is from honest sources and Allah will honour you and give you something better than what you would have earned from dishonest sources,” Maqbool said.
Maqbool was recently honoured by Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), which operates the parking facility in Al Sabkha were the bag was found. It is not immediately clear who the bag belonged to, reported Gulf News on Sunday.
HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the #RTA, honoured Mr. Taher Ali Maqbool, a cleaning worker in Al Sabkha parking, in recognition of his integrity in delivering a bag containing 15 kg of gold. pic.twitter.com/qw7QZy97pw
— RTA (@rta_dubai) June 27, 2019
“I’m very grateful to the RTA for the honour they bestowed on me. I’ve shared the news with my family back home and on Facebook and everyone is congratulating me.
“When I told my father what happened, he said I did the right thing and he was so proud of me. It’s such a great feeling.”
Maqbool says when he called security about the find, he was asked to bring the bag over to them.
“The next day, another security person on duty opened the toolbox and we saw the gold bars inside. I wasn’t sure at first if it was really gold but I said to myself, ‘leave it, even if it is so much gold, no matter how much it is worth. It is not worth more than one dirham of honest income’. So we called the authorities and later it was confirmed that it was solid gold,” Maqbool said.
Maqbool has been working as a cleaner at the parking facility for around a month. He has been working with the same company at other locations since 2013, says the report.
Maqbool conveys a message to the public after he found the bag:
“What I want to say to people is work hard, work honestly and never take what does not belong to you. Allah will honour you in front of everyone; that is the true reward.”