MAKKAH, 25 August 2005 — Ministry of Transportation surprised owners of external transportation buses of not renewing permits for buses of 1993 and 1994 models claiming that they are old and unusable despite passing all inspections, reported Al-Watan newspaper. The owners say that this decision will cause in the loss of millions of riyals in income as each bus costs between SR300,000 and SR400,000 and they cannot operate the buses without a ticket. Neither can they sell them in the local market nor re-export them without a permit. A source at Makkah transport administration said that the decision would affect 600 buses in Makkah.