GEORGE TOWN: There are more than 1,000 abandoned vehicles on the island, and the city council’s four depots of seized vehicles are almost full.
But there are 1,000 reasons not to abandon these vehicles – each one of them could fetch up to RM1,000 from recyclers.
The owners only need to use the Road Transport Department’s (JPJ) online Motor Vehicle De-registration System (e-Dereg).
Once these cars are de-registered, owners can call in licensed recyclers who will pick up the vehicles and pay the owner for the scraps, said Penang Island City Council enforcement director Noorazrein Noorazlan Ong.
“The online process takes less than an hour with JPJ’s e-Dereg system,” he said.
Abandoned vehicles, he said, not only hog public parking spaces and are eyesores, they also become breeding sites for mosquitoes, rats and cockroaches.
When owners do nothing, local authorities are empowered to act but it is a lengthy process, leading to the pile-up in the depots.
“We must trace the owners and send a notice. If the owners still do nothing, we need to check with the police and then carry out the legal process of scrapping the cars,” said Noorazrein.
Malaysian Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Penang) president Datuk S. Parthiban, however, said most such cars would not really fetch RM1,000.
Most scrap dealers pay RM700 to RM800 for these cars.
For really old cars, he said a Proton Saga might realistically fetch around RM400; a Nissan Sunny, between RM350 and RM400; a Ford Cortina, RM400; and Datsun, RM400.
A trashed Mercedes-Benz could bring in RM1,000 while most vans can yield a scrap value of RM1,200 to RM1,300.
“The parts that can be re-used are sold, usually to walk-in customers who head to the scrapyard for cheaper prices. The oil, windscreen and tyres must be disposed of,” said Parthiban.
