The second joint campaign to remove abandoned vehicles was launched yesterday in Al Rayan area and as many as 2,000 vehicles are expected to be removed under the drive.

From the beginning of current year, around 4,000 abandoned vehicles have been removed from all municipalities. The drive is being conducted by Joint Committee for Removing Abandoned Vehicles, in collaboration with Public Cleanliness and Mechanical Equipment Departments, security authorities and Al Rayan Municipality.

The campaign comes within the framework of the continuous efforts of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment to limit the number of abandoned vehicles and equipment that distorts the aesthetic view of the State.

The drive is also an implementation of Law No. (18) of 2017 on public hygiene. Marzouq Mubarak Al Masifari, Assistant Director of the Mechanical Equipment Department, who is also a member of the joint committee, said that the campaign to remove abandoned vehicles was launched in early July starting from the Industrial Area of Doha Municipality.

“So far we have removed around 500 abandoned vehicles from the Industrial Area since we launched the campaign in July. From the beginning of the year, we have removed 4,000 abandoned vehicles,” he said.

Regarding the joint campaign which began yesterday in Al Rayan, Al Masifari said: “It is expected to remove 2,000 abandoned vehicles from various areas of Al Rayan Municipality with the removal of around 25 to 30 cars a day.”

Marzouq Mubarak Al Masifari added that the committee will intensify its drives in all areas to remove abandoned vehicles, in addition of alerting vehicle owners of the need to not abandon their vehicles in public spaces. He asked the public to cooperate with authorities concerned to remove abandoned cars, adding that the work plans during the next stage would focus on another municipality according to schedule set by the committee.

For his part, Mohammed Faraj Al Kubaisi, Assistant Director of the General Cleaning Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment and member of the committee said that after placing the notification on a car the owner is granted three days by the committee to remove their vehicle. “In case the vehicle impedes the traffic it is removed immediately.”

Al Kubaisi also noted that the committee welcomes receiving any reports about abandoned cars on the committee’s hotline number. Last year, the committee had organized a comprehensive campaign in cooperation with all municipalities to remove abandoned vehicles.

The committee annually removes about 12,000 to 15,000 abandoned vehicles. The Ministry of Municipality and Environment has allocated another site to park abandoned vehicles in Al Mazroua (Um Slal) in addition to one in Mesaimeer and another in Al Mashaf. The new parking site can accommodate 25,000 to 30,000 abandoned vehicles.