Saudi Gazette report MADINAH — Visitors to scrap yards in Madinah have accused the Ministry of Health of selling vehicles carrying its logo as scrap. This has raised questions how these vehicles were sold without completely removing the logos to ensure that they would not be misused by buyers. Al-Madinah newspaper visited the scrap yards to investigate the allegations. Muhammad Awwad, a scrap yard owner, said he purchased the vehicles from the Ministry of Health in a public auction in June 2013 and their ownership was transferred to his name by the Traffic Department. He was not the only scrap dealer who bought the ministry's ambulances. Several showroom owners took part in the auction and purchased the vehicles. Awwad said the Ministry of Health tried to erase the logos with paint before selling the ambulances, but they are still clearly visible. The ministry should have completely removed the logos so that no one would misuse them later, he said. Meanwhile, several visitors said they preferred to purchase spare parts from the scrap yards because of the exorbitant prices charged by authorized dealers. Ahmad Al-Shammari, a Saudi from Tabuk, said he came to the scrap yard in search of a part, but after spending nearly four hours there he could not find what he needed. His friend, Adel Faraj, said they found several parts at the scrap yards but the owners did not want to sell to them. He asked, “Is it because we are from Tabuk that they do not want to sell the parts to us?” Ridah Abdullah, a Saudi national, said buying from the scrap yards suits him because not all people can afford the high prices of spare parts at authorized agents. He said he would go to the dealerships only when he could not find the required parts in the scrap yards. A spare part that is sold for SR1,000 by the agent can be found for as little as SR200 in the scrap yards, Abdullah said, adding that prices differed from one shop to another. He regularly deals with one particular shop, which sells the parts with a three-day warranty. If the part is damaged, he can return it within three days, but after this period the shop will not reimburse the money. Eid Abdu, an Egyptian, said he has been visiting scrap yards for more than 20 years. He came to purchase a door handle for his car. He found it for SR10, whereas it would cost him SR50 in a spare parts shop. Abdu said he preferred to buy spare parts from the scrap yards because of the cheap prices. “In addition, the yard owners give us a guarantee. A car engine purchased from the yard can be returned within one month if it malfunctioned,” Abdu said, adding that whenever he purchased a part, he would take it to a mechanic to confirm that it was in a good condition. Akhtar Jan, a Pakistani, said he purchased a car stereo for SR200. However, it turned out that only the radio was functioning. Jan returned it before the three-day guarantee period expired. He added that even though some spare parts were very expensive, he would never buy them again from the scrap yards. He said it was always safer to buy from the spare part shops because of the kind of tampering taking place in the scrap yards. Abdulrahman Muhammad, a Saudi, confirmed that some people might be tampering with the spare parts. “A buyer cannot verify whether a part he sought to purchase is genuine or counterfeit. The seller might have replaced the original part with a counterfeit one,” he said, adding that he was worried whenever he purchased a spare part about which he did not know anything. He called for official monitoring of the scrap yards to prevent tampering. However, Mousa Ahmad, an expatriate worker in one of the scrap yards, denied the existence of tampering in the scrap yards. Director of safety and spokesman for Madinah Traffic Department Col. Omar Al-Nazawi said scrap yards were being supervised by his department. He said the logos of government vehicles should be removed completely before selling them.
