By Ibrahim Alawi
Okaz/Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH – Saudis and expatriates have called upon the authorities to establish more centers for periodic inspection of vehicles across the Kingdom to avoid long queues at existing MVPI stations.
Saudi Arabia, which is a vast country with a population of more than 32 million, has only 26 MVPI stations while Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates, alone has 21 such technical stations while Dubai has 22 centers.
Abdul Kareem Al-Humaid, spokesman for the Motor Vehicle Periodic Inspection, said plans are afoot to establish three more centers in Riyadh, Jeddah and Wadi Al-Dawasser.
The long line of vehicles seen in front of the MVPI center in Jeddah highlights the need to establish more such centers in the port city. At present there are eight lines at the Jeddah station but some of them remain closed due to a lack of staff to man them.
Al-Humaid said Jeddah and Riyadh would have new centers this month while a new center would open in Wadi Al-Dawasser next month.
Meanwhile, some expatriate mechanics exploit the situation by promising help to people desperate to get the technical tests passed in the first attempt itself. Because they do not want to endure the long lines a second time, many motorists fall prey to such exploitation.
Other people approach motorists waiting in the lines offering to clean their vehicles using oil so that the inspectors will not detect leakage through oil seals. There still others who offer to fix the vehicle’s light system. Most of these people offer temporary solutions to just get the tests passed. There are even workshops that provide spare parts and tires on rent for the purpose of passing the tests.
For many motorists passing the MVPI test is not an easy task. Mohammed Abdul Jaleel said he visited the Jeddah station three times. “My vehicle failed two times. Worn-out tires and faulty lights were the reasons for failure,” he told Okaz/Saudi Gazette.
Khaled Fatahi, a workshop mechanic near the MVPI station in Jeddah, said worn-out tires and oil leakage were the main problems faced by motorists. He denied accusations that workshops in the area cheat customers to make quick money. “This is not true even though we offer our services at the lowest price possible,” he said.
Osama Al-Otaibi attributed the long queue at MVPI stations to reports that the Traffic Department would impose fines on vehicle owners who failed to conduct the periodic tests regularly.
Al-Humaid, the MVPI spokesman, said the 6 a.m. opening time has contributed to reducing the length of queues at MVPI stations to some extent.
“Some vehicles will have several problems and their owners need a lot of time to get them repaired,” he said.
He said the MVPI has no authority to inspect workshops operating in the area for suspicious activities.
Okaz/Saudi Gazette visited some of the workshops and discovered that many of them resort to short cuts in order to pass the tests.
The MVPI station in Dammam is also witnessing big crowds of visitors. On many occasions, the length of the queues reached more than 500 meters. Here also workers from workshops approach motorists who failed the test promising them quick fixes.
At the Abha station, the queues reached nearly two kilometers at one point. Many motorists and vehicle owners were surprised to see the unprecedented queue. Some of them headed to the station soon after the morning prayers to take positions in the queue.
Col. Abdullah Bin Ayed, director of the Traffic Department in Asir, said the long queue at the MVPI station in Abha was a good sign as people wanted to conduct tests and avoid fine.
“This is a healthy sign,” Col. Ayed told Okaz/Saudi Gazette, adding that the MVPI test would enable owners to know the main problems of their vehicles.
Ali Al-Shahri said he decided to take his vehicle for inspection after the Traffic Department decided to impose fines motorists who fail to carry out the MVPI tests while Ahmed Aseer criticized the department for taking the surprise decision.
Saad Al-Qahtani said he had to wait six hours at the station to get his vehicle tested.
A Bangladeshi driver lambasted workshops around the station for taking huge amounts of money for repairing cars, taking advantage of the misfortune of vehicle owners.
