BY YASIN ABU TAQIU
DOHA: Dozens of vehicles abandoned by their owners have been towed away as part of an ongoing campaign by the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning to improve the surroundings and avoid environmental problems.
Most cars had been removed from residential areas, according to a ministry spokesman. He said in Al Zaayen, inspectors from the Department of Services Affairs and Public Hygiene removed 15 vehicles from areas Lusail, Samisma and Lahbeeb.
Al Rayyan Municipality also removed 63 vehicles from its area recently. Most were found in Al Karaana. Civic inspectors conducted about 92 visits and issued 45 fines.
Residents in some areas welcomed the campaign, saying it was helping free much-needed parking spaces. Hameed Mohammed, a 30-year-old Egyptian, said: “I live in old Airport Area. You can hardly get parking after 9pm and half of these cars have been there for more than a month.”
But some vehicles got dirty and looked abandoned on the streets after their owners left on annual vacation which lasted more than a month.
For Zaid, a Pakistani who gave only his first name and leaving for his annual 30-day holiday next month, the campaign poses a problem. “Can authorities tell us where it’s safe to leave our cars or how we can wash them while we are on vacation so that we don’t find them removed when we return?”
Municipalities have also been carrying public health campaigns and have conducted 1,239 visits to Al Zaayen to combat insects and rodents in homes, government buildings, schools, on streets and in parks. They have also removed 16 million gallons of sewage waste. Civic teams also cleaned beaches and coastal areas in Umm Al Maa, Madinat Al Shamal and Mumtada.
The Peninsula
