JEDDAH, 23 July 2003 — In the 45-degree heat of Jeddah’s summer, the ammonia-tainted stench of ordure in the animal market located to the east of Jeddah is causing major problems for local residents and market workers alike.

Literally taking your breath away, the smell is also raising the temperature of relations between residents and traders. Originally located to the south of Jeddah near the Prince Abdullah Stadium, the market was moved over a decade ago to accommodate an international youth football festival.

Kamal Ibrahim is a Sudanese who works in the market. “The smell is appalling,” he told Arab News, “but what can we do? We work here all day long; after a while you don’t notice it any more.”

But the smell is not the only problem. “If you look around you, this place is infested with flies,” Kamal said.

“It’s bad here, but they get into the surrounding neighborhoods as well. Garbage collectors and pest control workers come here occasionally, but as you can see, they’re not doing a very good job.”

Musa Ali, another worker, said these problems were par for the course. “Of course this place is dirty and smells bad,” he said.

“As you can see,” he observed ironically, “we forgot to build bathrooms for the animals. This is the animal market, what do you expect? We are trying hard to keep this place as clean as possible. There are thousands of animals, so it’s very hard to control. I am doing my best by keeping my place and animals as clean as possible.”

But he has little sympathy for the neighbors. “They can move to other neighborhoods so they can’t smell it. We know that the wind carries the smell to nearby neighborhoods, that is something beyond our control.”

Close by, in the Al-Rehab neighborhood, Ahmad Salem is unhappy. “At night, I can’t open my window because of the smell. The wind carries it here at night, after Isha prayer. I don’t think anyone with an asthma problem could live here.”

The market affects his social life, too. “I am ashamed of this place. I can’t invite guests at night because of the smell, and I’m seriously thinking of moving somewhere else. Before the market arrived in the neighborhood, there was no problem at all.”

He doubts whether the municipality is going to help.

“I don’t think they will do much because this is not a tourist site, so why should they take care of it? The only solution would be to move the market far away from populated areas.”