Makkah, August 29: A Saudi man and his wife have been living in their own car for more than three years because they are simply too poor to own a house.
They said social welfare authorities have not given much attention to their problem.
The husband, Turki Al-Amri who is in his 50s, told Arab News he was under immense pressure as he had to deal with both a lack of regular income and his wife’s mental illness. He said they could not provide proper nutrition to their newborn baby boy.
Al-Amri said he was a security guard at a private company but he was let go when the business closed down.
“My problems started from then on. I started using my own car as a taxi to be able to live but this did not solve the problem,” he said.
Al-Amri said his father-in-law took them in his apartment but after three years he was told to leave.
“I left the apartment with my wife. She was suffering mentally. I did not know where to go or what to do. I had no money to rent an apartment or even a community house in any of the underdeveloped areas. I had no other option but to live in my car,” he said.
Al-Amri said he parked his old car near the expressway after turning it into a house to accommodate him and his wife. “My wife’s health worsened. She started behaving like a complete lunatic. She began throwing stones at the door of our car shattering the glass. She would also get out of the car and start throwing stones at the pedestrians,” he said.
Al-Amri described his life as one of sustained misery and said he has to keep his wife near him because she could be a danger to others.
He said about a year ago, he stationed his car at Al-Binayan gas station along the Makkah-Jeddah Expressway, making it his makeshift home. “Five months ago my wife gave birth to a baby boy who we named Saad (good omen), so that our situation might take a turn for the best,” he said.
Al-Amri said as the car was too hot for the infant, they used to take him out and pour water on his body to cool him down. “This did not work. We had to beg to be able to buy a small electricity generator for SR800 and a desert air conditioner for SR500. Things began to improve as the inside of our car was kept cool,” he explained.
Al-Amri said they were also able to purchase cooking utensils and began to cook their food inside the car.
“All I ask for is solid support from the officials concerned. I am a Saudi citizen and deserve to live with dignity and honor like any other Saudi.”
—-Arabnews