Sitting in the shade with his head resting on his hands, Majid Abdullah, an Afghan used spare parts dealer, could not contain his anger and frustration as he lamented how the demolition of the Amghara scrap yard has affected business. According to Abdullah, the new scrap yard located 110 km from Kuwait City is nothing but a ghost city. "Can't you see? We are suffering here. There is no electricity, no water, no infrastructure and no business. They just dumped us here in the desert. This place is too far away and people now prefer to buy new parts instead of coming this far just for old parts. The government could have closed the business entirely instead of sending us here," he said. A few months ago, the government demolished the makeshift structures at Amghara scrap yard, a place formerly known to many as a haven for used spare parts for any brand of car. The auto spare parts market was relocated from Amghara to a new location in Naayem near the Kuwait-Saudi (Salmi) border.
Most car owners and old parts dealers are against the relocation because of the distance, but the government has another plan for the Amghara site. The business owners were reluctant to move and were forcibly removed - with the Public Authority for Industry (PAI) insisting that instructions and notices were given years back. The government plans to build public parks and recreational facilities in the old scrap yard area. "No one (both dealers and customers) want to come here for anything.
This place is too far. People now prefer to spend more to buy new parts than to travel down here," Akbar Akhtar, another Afghan spare parts dealer said. For the dealers in the new scrap yard, business is bad, but for their counterparts in Shuwaikh area, business is good
New tactics Even before the relocation, most of the old spare parts sold in Amghara scrap yard could be found in Shuwaikh, but they were usually more expensive compared to the Amghara scrap yard. "What is happening now is that dealers have moved some of the old spare parts to Shuwaikh market. These parts are sold at higher prices. Many people now prefer to pay a little more for the same old parts in Shuwaikh instead of travelling down to this border area, putting us out of the market,' Akhtar explained. Kuwait Times met one of those dealers in Shuwaikh. "You don't need to go to the border for a fairly used compressor. The difference here is just KD 12. There it is sold for KD 50, and here I can give it to you for KD 62 with a oneweek guarantee," Ateef Adel, an Iranian dealer said. "Just list all you need and give me a deposit, and I will bring them from the scrap yard for you in the evening," another dealer Amar, an Indian, suggested.
Time and money For some car owners, spending extra cash to get what you want in Shuwaikh is better than risking it all at the new scrap yard. "I would rather pay a little more here (in Shuwaikh) than go down to that area. It's not worth it. It takes a lot of time and if the parts are faulty, you have to go there again for a replacement," Kumar, an Indian car owner said while buying some old parts in Shuwaikh, echoing what most of the people Kuwait Times interviewed said. But in sharp contrast, Farouk Mohamed disagreed with Kumar and others. "Old motor parts are now cheaper at the new scrap yard than ever. Because people are shunning that place, some of the dealers are now selling the parts at cheaper rates just to stay in business. I used to buy this shock absorber (showing an old shock absorber from his jeep) for KD 25 before, but now it's sold for KD 15. I know that place is far but one can still explore it. Kuwait is a small country, so travelling a little distance to get what you want is something worth doing," Mohamed insisted. In Kuwait, car spare parts are generally expensive or hard to find, especially for old cars. But they can be had at a lesser price if one is willing to go a bit out of the way. One can find almost anything in Kuwait's scrap yard. At the new scrap yard, there are huge piles of scrap vehicles - of all brands and models, mostly cars involved in accidents and abandoned old vehicles.
© Kuwait Times 2014
