JEDDAH, 12 September 2003 — The Saudization of the fruit market is failing and the few Saudis employed there find themselves embroiled in what some describe as a war with expatriates. “It is obvious that Saudization is dying here,” a Saudi working in Jeddah’s fruit market told Arab News.
Saudi workers claim that there is a concerted campaign against them, with wholesalers insisting on dealing with expatriates only.
“I cannot believe it when officials say that the fruit market is 100 percent Saudized. They should come here to see the reality for themselves,” Saudi worker Emad Ahmed said.
Ali Al-Otaibi, another Saudi, said numerous obstacles were being put in his way by unscrupulous expatriates. “Ever since I came to the fruit market I have been suffering from foreigners trying to make it difficult for me to stay here,” he said. “There are invisible forces trying to kick us out of the market. How can we tough it out if auctioneers, accountants and transport businesses are in the hands of foreigners?”
Saud Muhammad said the stereotype of Saudis as lazy and useless was false. “Saudis are qualified to work anywhere, and they are willing to stay in the job and succeed. But when they do, they come up against foreigners who try to kick them out,” he said.
“The problem is with foreign auctioneers who will only sell their goods to other foreigners and leave nothing for us, so we lose business and end up leaving the job.”
These wholesalers, according to Salem Ahmad, have no faith in Saudis. “Their excuse in that is Saudis are not professional sellers and they don’t pay for the goods. This is not fair. They also say that foreigners are willing to work much longer hours than most Saudis,” he said.
“There are some Saudis who are actually helping the expatriates stay in charge of the fruit market. For example they give up their stalls to expatriates for a monthly fee, and this of course is easy money for them. Some Saudis lease up to 15 stalls or shop spaces to foreigners. This means they’re helping to kill Saudization.” Ahmad Abdulsalam does not see much progress in the Saudization project. “I would guess that Saudis make up only about 10 percent of the workforce in the market. I hear a lot about Saudization, but I don’t see any action,” he said.
