South Jeddah records highest number of abandoned cars

The Jeddah Municipality has removed more than 900 damaged cars abandoned in the streets during the past three months.
Jeddah records the highest number of abandoned cars in the entire Kingdom.
Municipality spokesman Engineer Sami Nawwar said the problem of abandoned cars in the city’s streets and districts was increasing day by day, most of them concentrated in certain areas of southern Jeddah like Ruwais, Baghdadia and Hindawia, where 200 cars were seized. All the vehicles were towed to a vacant municipal land in Asfan, the area earmarked for abandoned cars after seizure.
“Most of these vehicles are old and have problems that would cost huge amounts to fix, and this makes the owners dump their vehicles in the streets. Some of them may be involved in crime, which is why the municipality coordinates with the police and traffic department before removing them,” he said.
He said a committee comprising members of the municipality, police, traffic department and the contracted company that tows the cars puts a sticker on such abandoned cars requesting the owner to show up at the municipality within two weeks to carry out procedures to remove it. After the two-week period, the car is automatically seized for a month, after which it is sold at auction.
Khaled Bakalka, a resident of the Suhaifa District, said the high incidence of dumped cars was a nuisance. “There must be some 60 abandoned cars around the neighborhood. It is unsightly,” he said.