JIZAN: Traffic jams in Jizan are being caused by an increase in the number of new cars being sold in the city, amounting to 50 to 60 vehicles per day, said Capt. Fawaz Al-Shareef, spokesman of Jizan Region Traffic Department The statement caused a source at a car agency to express astonishment. “Aren't car agencies selling new cars in all parts of the Kingdom?” the source asked. Okaz/Saudi Gazette asked Brig. Ayidh Bin Dakheelallah, director of the Traffic Department in Jizan, to comment on the issue, but he declined and demanded that he be given in advance the questions to be covered in an interview. Several disgruntled Saudis in Jizan related their discontent at the traffic jams that have paralyzed a number of major streets of the city and disrupted the flow of traffic. Lines of vehicles wait at traffic signals, intersections and roundabouts for hours on end, they said, lamenting that this coincides with the absence of traffic policemen early in the morning and at peak hours. “Traffic Department vehicles or policemen cannot be seen when they are really needed to facilitate the flow of traffic at road junctions and major streets at peak hours,” said Muhammad Aqeeli, a local resident who complained about the problems. “This is exacerbating the situation.” He demanded that traffic policemen come out in the field and deal with the traffic jams. Aqeeli added that the city is in dire need of re-planning and the expansion of street lanes because its main streets can no longer accommodate the large number of vehicles.
