DAMMAM: An official source from the Traffic Administration said Thursday that government-owned vehicles form “only 20 percent” of all vehicles penalized by Saher traffic cameras. “This shows that users of government-owned vehicles are complying,” the source said. “Offenders pay the fines from their own private accounts.” He also said that the Ministry of Interior is currently studying extending the Saher camera system in four years' time to cover intercity highways across the Kingdom, with cameras installed at intervals to record the time in which vehicles traverse the distances between them. The company operating the Saher system in the Eastern Province, meanwhile, has said that it would have no objection to transferring the services of Saudi staff working on Saher to the state if so desired. A company official said that the contract signed with the Ministry of Interior stipulates that after five years from the date of signing the contract the company is required to hand over equipment and vehicles to the ministry. He said that there are currently 120 Saudi computer operators working on Saher in the Eastern Province, Asir and Tabuk, a number which is expected to increase in the near future. “They earn over 4,000 riyals a month and are entitled to a number of perks,” he said. He added that the Ministry of Interior is resolved to introduce the Saher system nationwide, and noted that 56 percent of fines from motor offenses go to the state, and the remainder to the operating company.
