Muscat – Within its efforts to preserve the urban environment and to ensure smooth flow of traffic, Muscat Municipality in Seeb carried out a campaign to tow away vehicles neglected in public places, squares and parking lots and seized 291 vehicles left untended across the city. As many as 3,217 warning stickers were placed on the vehicles to notify their owners to take them away within the time period given to them.

Leaving vehicles neglected in public areas for long time is a violation of the regulations and laws as based on the provisions of administrative decision No. (171/2018) issued on the organisation of neglected vehicles in public places in Muscat Governorate, where Article (2) of the Regulation stipulates that ‘the owner of the vehicle is prohibited from leaving it in public place in a way that leads to the distortion of the public view.’

Article (3) clarifies the procedures of the Municipality to place an alert sticker on vehicles left in public places in a manner that distort the public view, provided that it coordinates with the Royal Oman Police, within (7) seven days from the date of placing the warning sticker on the vehicle, to ensure that there is no report or a circular on the vehicle or any other restrictions.

Article (4) states that “the Municipality may tow away and seize abandoned vehicles in public places at the expense of the owner of the vehicle after the expiry of fourteen (14) days from the date of placing the warning label on them, without the Municipality incurring any responsibility for damage to the neglected vehicle during its transfer to the detention place.