Qatar sees huge hike in abandoned cars

CARS ABANDONED: Doha has seen a surge in the number of cars left unclaimed on its streets. (Getty Images)

Doha has seen a 791 percent increase in the number of cars being abandoned on its streets and outskirts, it was reported on Sunday.

The city’s municipality has revealed that in January this year 1,448 vehicles were deemed to be left unclaimed.

This is a huge hike on the 183 found abandoned in January 2008, according to local Arabic daily Arrayah and reported in Qatar daily Gulf Times.

A designated yard for abandoned vehicles was full to capacity, director of Doha Municipality, Ibrahim Al Malky told the newspaper.

“There is practically no space left because vehicles are already stockpiled one over the other,” he revealed.

There was an urgent need for a coordinated effort to allocate a new areas for the cars, Al Malky added.

No reason for the increase was given.

However, the findings come a week after Dubai’s authorities denied that it was seeing more cars abandoned at the airport as a result of expatriates fleeing the UAE on the back of the economic crisis.

Only 11 cars had been left at Dubai International Airport in over a year, confirmed lieutenant general Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, chief of the Dubai police department.

Clarification on the number of abandoned cars came after repeated local and international media reports that the figure had hit 3,000.

The municipal officials in Doha dealing with public hygiene and cleanliness periodically monitor the number vehicles found abandoned on the city streets.

They place stickers on such vehicles and photographs are taken and forwarded to the public cleanliness department which is responsible for removing them to the junkyard.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Abandoned cars-Mr.Dhahi Khalfan is right
Posted by Muhammed Azeem, Abu Dhabi, UAE on Sunday 15 February 2009 at 23:36 UAE time


Hello friends

The legal actions will start regarding the abandoned assets only after confirming that, it has been abandoned. This requires a period of six months to reach as an analytical data to the higher authorities. So Mr. Dhahi Khalfan is right, may he he might have received the official data for the 11 cars, so please stop pulling his legs.

Qatar is an Emirate and so is Dubai
Posted by Hernandez, Doha, Qatar on Sunday 15 February 2009 at 22:08 UAE time


The better question is whether more than 11 cars have been abandoned just outside the airport in Dubai or throughout the emirate altogether. Also, I would imagine that many of the "abandoned" cars in Qatar are wrecks or cars that have gone into disuse, and not victims of an economic crisis. I don't think the numbers or cases are specific enough on either side here. It makes no use to argue the point.

qatar is a country dubai is a city
Posted by ali, auh, uae on Sunday 15 February 2009 at 15:24 UAE time


guys i think you are missing the point here , qatar have only ONE airport , not like the UAE - again if a person have no money will he/she take a budget airline or pay doubel the amount for a oen way ticket , i would to know who many cars have been left in Sharjah , and i do Belive the 11 car number in Dubai , please compare Apples with apples - country with country then figure things out .

Honesty like this
Posted by Peter Higgins, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 15 February 2009 at 13:40 UAE time


With honesty like this, Doha deserves to succeed! Dubai is looking like it has some catching up to do...

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