JEDDAH, 24 February 2005 — The students at King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU) don’t think they’re asking for much; all they’re asking for is a lot — a parking lot, that is.
University officials contend that everything’s fine, but then why are they collecting SR5,000 in parking fines every day? Arab News recently visited KAAU to investigate this issue — and try to find a place to park.
Student Omar Al-Ghamdi has a serious kidney disorder and becomes very tired when he walks even short distances, and this is something he does regularly at KAAU.
The place where Al-Ghamdi has to park is more than a kilometer from the college. In a normal day, he walks more than four kilometers and the medical condition makes him exhausted and unable to concentrate. He thinks that one solution to his problem would be to allow cars to park inside the university, which reportedly has space for only 8,700 vehicles.
A few weeks ago, more than 40,000 students returned to the university after the Haj holiday, and the parking problem arose again. The result is constant friction between drivers and tow trucks.
Even with health problems, it’s not an easy issue to resolve. “I asked the university to give me a permit so I could bring my car into the university,” Al-Ghamdi said. “They asked me to have an examination at the university hospital to prove my need. I told them that I’ve already had an examination at another government hospital.”
When you see students arriving early for class, it’s not so they can check out the rows of shelves to find books at the library but to check out the rows of cars to find a parking space.
“Once I couldn’t find a place to park so I parked near the area provided, though not in it,” said early bird Saeed Al-Ahmary. “I wasn’t blocking any car or any parking space, but when I returned to the place after class, my car was not there.”
Not stolen — just towed.
“University security had towed it away, and I had to pay SR150 to get it back,” said Al-Ahmary. “SR150 is a lot of money for me since I only get SR200 a month.”
The university earns an estimated SR5,000 a day from towing cars. Al-Ahmary blames the Security Department for giving permits to people they know or charging exorbitant prices for issuing them.
The university takes a different view.
Muhammad Al-Malki, a university official, said there was sufficient parking for all students’ cars. Another official says towing and fines are necessary, with the fines intended to discourage illegal parking.
“We tow between 30 and 50 cars a day,” said Sultan Al-Hagowi, the supervisor of the department that tows the cars. “To get the cars back, the owners have to pay SR100, but if the violations continue, the price increases.”
Another student, Majid, said the number of students is greater than the number of available parking spaces.
Saeed, Fahd and Adel said they sometimes miss classes because of no parking places. All three said it was normal for them to spend “a lot of time” looking for a place to park at the university.
Will the students get to turn off their engines? Will the university check to see if there’s a problem? Arab News will keep you posted — as soon as we can find a place to park.
