Some 9,300 abandoned vehicles have been removed across all municipalities in the country since the beginning of the year, an official has said.
Marzouq Mubarak al-Misfri, assistant director of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME)’s mechanical equipment department, said this at the launch of a campaign to remove abandoned vehicles in Al Sheehaniya Municipality.
The campaign is being undertaken by the joint committee for removing abandoned vehicles, the mechanical equipment department, and the general cleanliness department in co-operation with the Al Sheehaniya Municipality.
Announcing this through a press statement, the MME said that the initiative is part of the efforts made to curb the spread of this unacceptable phenomenon and enforce Law No 18 of 2017 on public hygiene.
Representatives of the entities involved in the joint committee were present at the launch of the campaign at the Ministry of Interior and Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya), along with a number of officials from the authorities concerned.
Mohamed Faraj al-Kubaisi, assistant director of the MME’s general cleanliness department and member of the committee, said that the campaign would continue for a week until all the targeted abandoned vehicles are removed within the jurisdiction of the municipality.
He said the committee would further intensify its efforts in the coming period to remove all abandoned vehicles and equipment across the country, in co-operation with the entities concerned.
Al-Kubaisi also called on the owners of such vehicles and equipment to remove them as soon as possible to avoid the potential legal liabilities.
Al-Misfri, who is also a member of the committee, said the campaign in Al Sheehaniya is part of the committee’s plans for this year.
After completing it, the committee will evaluate all related campaigns carried out this year, and every possible solution will be considered for incorporation in next year’s plan in co-operation with the municipalities concerned.
Work on removing abandoned vehicles will not stop and is set to continue until the end of the year.
He added that some 5,300 abandoned vehicles have been removed around the country since the launch of the latest series of campaigns in July.
Also, around 9,300 abandoned vehicles have been removed across all municipalities in the country since the beginning of the year.
Ali Mohamed al-Hammadi, the director of the municipal control department at Al Sheehaniya Municipality, said that around 150 abandoned vehicles were detected by the committee ahead of the campaign.
More than 50% of these were removed by their owners in co-operation with the authorities concerned, and their status was modified accordingly, thanks to the initiatives undertaken to raise awareness of the issue.
An abandoned vehicle being removed.
