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Authorities have removed about 7,000 vehicles abandoned by their owners so far this year. Another 3,000 have been identified to be removed in coming months.
The Joint Committee for Removal of Abandoned Vehicles and Equipment has intensified its efforts, working round the week ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, an official said.
“Since the start of this year, the committee has conducted a series of campaigns, during which over 10,000 abandoned vehicles were marked for removal,” said Hamad Sultan Al Shahwani, Head of General Monitoring Section at Doha Municipality.
Al Shahwani, who is also a member of the committee, said that about 7,000 abandoned vehicles out of the total vehicles marked for this year have been removed so far, while work is underway to remove the remaining vehicles.
Al Shahwani was speaking on the occasion of the launch of an operation to remove abandoned vehicles in Doha Municipality on Monday.
The operation, which started in Old Airport area, will cover a number of localities in Doha Municipality.
“The committee has intensified efforts for removing abandoned vehicles. The operation will continue even during the weekends under the campaign ahead of the World Cup,” said Al Shahwani.
He said all abandoned vehicles were marked across Doha Municipality, and work is underway round-the-clock to implement the removal process for these vehicles in coordination with the committee.
“The committee educated a large number of vehicle owners who removed their abandoned vehicles and rectified their situations.”
He urged owners of abandoned vehicles to cooperate with the committee in disposing of such vehicles to avoid legal accountability as per provisions of the Law No. 18 of 2017 on public hygiene.
Al Shahwani said public support and cooperation is very important for the efforts of the committee to make the country free of abandoned vehicles to ensure public health and hygiene.
As per the rules, abandoned vehicles are being taken to impound facilities where owners can reclaim their vehicles within a specific period and after paying a fine. After end of the grace period, the vehicles are auctioned or sold to companies for disposal.
According to the statistics issued recently, the committee removed 1,547 abandoned vehicles in July 2022. Of them, 937 vehicles were taken to Al Mashaf impound ground in Al Wakra while 610 vehicles were taken to the impound facility in Umm Salal.
Between July 1 and 26, 2022, 1,571 abandoned vehicles were either sold in auction, dismantled or reclaimed by their owners. The committee sold abandoned vehicles for QR950,500 during the period of study.
However, during recent months, Mzad Qatar has auctioned 393 abandoned vehicles at a cost of QR3,262,995.
The drive for removing abandoned vehicles is being implemented by the joint committee in coordination with and the Department of Mechanical Equipment and General Cleanliness Department in cooperation with Doha Municipality and Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya).
