JEDDAH, 15 October 2003 — The Traffic Department has released 45 of 70 minibuses for female students it impounded for violating regulations that require such buses to be driven by a mature Saudi accompanied by a female family member.
The decision came after minibus operators complained to the Traffic Department and is conditional on the operators complying with the regulations.
The Director of Jeddah’s Traffic Department, Col. Abdul Aziz Al-Obailan, earlier told Al-Madinah newspaper operators had been told in advance that regulations required drivers to be Saudis over 40 accompanied by a female guardian from their own family.
Maj. Saad Al-Ghamdi, the department’s director of public relations, confirmed that the requirements for bus drivers are issued with the school transport company’s license. The requirements, he said, took “account of the students’ families about religious and safety aspects.”
But Abdullah Al-Harithy, the owner of Al-Nuzha Company for School Transportation, told Al-Riyadh the conditions were impossible to meet.
“We can’t find a driver over 40 with a legal guardian,” he said. “And we’ve been advertising in the paper.”
Abdullah Barnawi of Al-Rayan Company for School Transportation said his company was forced to appoint foreign drivers when it did not find Saudi drivers who could meet the said conditions.
Hussein Madani, the owner of Madani Company, said that he had posted advertisements for drivers based on the regulations and got response from a single driver who after a week in the job flung the keys in his face and told him the job was intolerably tiring.
A similar story was told by Abdullah Al-Masrahi of Al-Tamouh Company for School Transportation, who added that 95 percent of applicants for the job were under 40.
But Col. Al-Obailan said the decision to impound the vehicles was not sudden and that the companies had been told to expect fines between SR500 and SR5,000 for disregarding the regulations.
Saleh ibn Deema, owner of Rihab School Transportation Company, said he had been under the impression that the rules applied only to the transport of female students living outside the city. He added bus drivers had always been thoroughly evaluated.
When asked why there was a difference between the requirements for bus drivers and those for taxi drivers, who only need be over 21 to qualify for a license and do not require a female guardian, Maj. Al-Ghamdi said that the Transport Department was responsible for issuing the regulations and the Traffic Department merely enforced them.
