Stuck in neutral, abandoned cars cause an eyesore to Muharraq residents; fill their car parking spaces

Clusters of abandoned vehicles fill neighbourhoods in Muharraq, robbing its beauty while leaving many residents and citizens with no space to park their vehicles.

Sources say there are at least 10 abandoned vehicles covered with tonnes of dust in each neighbourhood of the governorate.

For an auto lover, these neighbourhoods would look like an exhibition ground or an open museum displaying various cars ranging from 1990 to 2005 models.

Bahraini law strictly bans leaving scrap cars on the streets and parking spaces. It is a clear violation of the provisions of Chapter Six of the General Section of the Penal Code promulgated by a legislative decree.

According to law, the municipality shall notify the violators by mailing them to their addresses and if they fail to act within two weeks, the municipality can seize the vehicles before disposing them.

Since the beginning of 2018, the Northern Municipality has announced the removal of 350 abandoned cars from parking spaces; the Capital Municipality removed 894 abandoned cars and the Southern Municipality removed 370 cars. However, in the Muharraq governorate, no car was towed away.

 Muharraq Municipality should work hand in hand with the Interior Ministry to find a solution or the governorate would become a huge garage for abandoned vehicles, warn residents.

There are also environmental issues associated with dumped vehicles. Experts say they could end up polluting the environment.

Several of these discarded vehicles still have batteries, tyres, paint and other parts intact and their decay can mean a considerable amount of air and land pollution.