MUSCAT: Keeping vehicles at public parking slots for a long period is prohibited. Any vehicle seen in an abandoned state will be towed away and action taken against the owners, according to the Muscat Municipality.
Several vehicles are spotted at odd parking slots for weeks and months and are subject to legal action, a top official commented.
"Public parking slots are for short periods, and paid parking can be used for longer periods as long as the fees are paid," he said.
The law implementation wing at the Muscat Municipality has launched a drive to keep the city and suburbs clean. Warning notices are being pasted on abandoned vehicles.
"Vehicles seen unattended for many months will be confiscated, and owners will be subjected to action which includes fines and charges of towing."
He further said that when an abandoned vehicle is spotted for a longer period, a notice will be pasted to the windshield, and after a lapse of additional two or three weeks, it will be towed away, and the owner will be made pay all charges incurred thereof failing of which, the vehicles will be sold in a public auction at its yard in Al Amerat.
"All such vehicles will be sold in the condition that they are kept at the yard, and no claim or damages will be encouraged later," the source said.
According to earlier statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), almost 200,000 people have left the country during the pandemic, and many cars were left unattended after they found no takers for the same.
"We have been carrying out a drive against abandoned vehicles to avoid inconvenience to genuine vehicle owners, " an official from the civic authority said.
He further said that this measure of towing over abandoned vehicles is carried out after giving due notices to the vehicle owners or the notices stuck on the windshield for months but found out that the vehicle owners initiated no action and are part of the civic body's efforts to avoid distortions to smooth traffic flow.
Stickers advise vehicle owners to remove their vehicles. Such vehicles are parked mostly near Ghala, Bausher, Muscat and near old airport.
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