by Hana Namrouqa | Sep 16, 2012 | 22:51

AMMAN — Considered environmental and health hazards as well as eyesores, 300 abandoned vehicles scattered across the capital’s streets will soon be towed away as part of an ongoing effort to clean up the city, according to a Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) official.

The cars, which are either wrecked or too old to function, are being removed as part of an ongoing campaign to improve the safety and appearance of Amman’s streets, Mutaz Zaghlawan, head of the technical control office at GAM’s construction monitoring department, said on Sunday.

“Since the launch of our campaign last year, around 1,200 abandoned cars were removed from the capital’s streets,” Zaghlawan said.

GAM teams locate abandoned vehicles and mark them with stickers notifying their owners that they need to remove them within 14 days before they are towed away.

If the owners do not comply and remove their cars from the street, the abandoned vehicles are towed to a three-dunum impound lot near the ring road, Zaghlawan said.

“Eighty per cent of environmental and health hotspots in Amman have been addressed since we started this campaign because wrecked and abandoned cars attract dirt and waste, “ the GAM official underscored.

People can retrieve their impounded vehicles after paying fees for transport as well as for each day their car was impounded, which vary depending on the size of the vehicle, according to GAM.

GAM teams conduct inspection rounds twice weekly or following reports from residents, Zaghlawan said, urging the public to call GAM at 06/5687112 or 0798166816 to report any abandoned car.

Awad Al Rabah, a 75-year-old retired military serviceman, said that he had to report his neighbour’s abandoned car to GAM.

“I repeatedly asked my neighbour to remove his old wrecked car from the side road because it was collecting dirt, plastic bags and dry leaves but it was in vain. I had to call GAM and report about the car, which was also taking up a parking space,” Rabah told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

http://jordantimes.com/amman-to-remove-300-abandoned-cars-from-streets