Recently, I came across a community report in Gulf News highlighting the problem of abandoned cars in Abu Dhabi. I wish to congratulate such readers for their awareness and for sharing the problem with the authorities.
I have been a resident of the Madinat Zayed area for the past five years and have noticed the same problem. In fact, it has increased multifold, especially during the past year.
Even as the authorities would place notices and fines on some vehicles, after some time, someone would remove these stickers and clean the cars — the vehicles are never really removed or towed away. They continue to stay parked in the same location.
On closer inspection, I found that these cars are used by car mechanics — who abound in this area — as their on-road workshop! Most of these cars cannot be driven and have been parked for a long time. Parking an old car in a free parking space provides these mechanics with free space which they are able to use as a storage area in a most convenient location. If they were to rent a shop in such an area, it would probably be very expensive for them. However, all this is happening at the cost of inconvenience to residents.
Additionally, once these "mobile" workshops have been established, one can see innumerable cars being repaired in the parking areas, which further adds to congestion and damages the ambience of the residential area. We almost feel as if we are staying in a workshop garage colony of Mussafah Industrial Area.
I urge the authorities to take immediate action in order to end this menace.
The reader is a resident of Abu Dhabi.
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