JEDDAH, 16 September — Following the massive fire that destroyed a major Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) group warehouse for auto parts in Khamra outside Jeddah on Sept.1, the company’s managing director has been working round the clock to make sure the business continues to run smoothly.
The fire had caused an estimated SR200 million in damages.
“It’s business as usual in Jeddah, despite the loss of the spare parts warehouse,” Ghafoor Rawtaer told Arab News.
“We have commissioned three teams to make sure that business is not interrupted,” he said in an interview at ALJ’s main office.
“The first team is handling the investigation of the accident, the second is drawing up plans to rebuild the warehouse, and I’m leading the third to making sure the day-to-day operation continues as before.”
The ALJ Company is the exclusive Saudi agent for Toyota and Lexus and presently has over a hundred centers and dealers.
The worry was that they might run out of spare parts as a result of the fire.
“We with the help of organizations such as DHL, Saudia Airlines and the dealerships in our neighboring countries, we have managed to stabilize the market place,” Rawtaer explained.
“Our goal is to make sure that by the end of October we have enough spare parts in our central division to supply all our centers,” he added.
The cause of the fire is still not known. It destroyed the warehouse, which is the company’s largest in the region, covering an area of 32,000 sqm.
