SAUDI ARABIA

Mechanics: Regulate car workshops in Makkah

March 17, 2018
Vandalism and thefts are among the problems faced by car workshops in Makkah.
Vandalism and thefts are among the problems faced by car workshops in Makkah.

Saudi Gazette report

MAKKAH — The head of the car mechanics' guild in Makkah has accused many Saudis of violating labor and industrial regulations by opening car workshops in the name of their wives and then hiring unqualified expatriates to run them.

While speaking to Al-Madina Arabic newspaper, Essam Khalifa has admitted that there are not enough qualified mechanics to work in car workshops in the region.

"We see many people working in car workshops but most of them have no training or prior experience in the field. There is no regulating authority that ensures all car mechanics are trained and certified," said Khalifa.

He said there are 7,000 industrial workshops randomly located in the city with no specific planning.

"One of the biggest problems workshop owners face is frequent cases of theft. Their equipment and car parts are being stolen on a daily basis. We need more security for the industrial districts in the city," said Khalifa.

He has said they receive an average of 70 complaints a month from workshop owners about the damages inflicted on them by vandals and thieves.

"We resolve 99 percent of the complaints we receive, most of them by ourselves while some cases require legal interference. Most of the complaints we receive are about rent prices. There is no regulation in the market as some investors demand SR50,000 while others demand SR200,000 for a plot of the same size," said Khalifa.

He added that the country has spent a lot of money to train citizens in order to Saudize the sector but many Saudi investors who have no qualifications in the field open workshops and hire unqualified foreign workers, instead of Saudis.

"I think the municipality should interfere and demand that workers and investors in car workshops should all be properly qualified to run them. Many customers approach unqualified workers asking them to fix their cars. The worker complies without question because the investor of the workshop does not care about the quality of work but about the financial returns," said Khalifa.


March 17, 2018
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