MAKKAH — A number of local residents have criticized car rental companies for parking their vehicles in front of homes despite repeated complaints, Makkah newspaper reported. The residents said the cars usually block access to main streets. Maher Zain, a resident in Al-Aziziya District, lives in an apartment block that also houses a number of car rental shops at the bottom of the building. He said: “These businesses do not care about residents rights. Each of us has our own parking spot but these car rental places will park their vehicles anywhere they want. “We have spoken to the owner of the building about this and he promised to solve the problem. “Instead, the companies started parking in front of the building in an empty place. “We had no choice but to park three streets away from the building because there was no point in dealing with them.” Ibrahim Mulla, a resident in Al-Shuhadaa neighborhood, said car rental businesses near his home park their cars in his building, parking space and in the buildings near them. He said, "We complained to the municipality and they did not do anything about it. They should have been firm with them. “I do not understand why these offices cannot relocate in a special business building with parking spaces to solve this problem. “Despite repeated complaints, the car companies have never been fined by authorities.” Makkah attempted to repeatedly contact the spokesman of Makkah Municipality Usama Al-Zaytoni but he did not respond. Spokesman of Makkah Police Capt. Ali Al-Zahrani said car rental offices are not allowed to park more than two cars in front of their shops and any additional parked cars would be towed.
