MAKKAH, 24 June 2006 — The Al-Mansour Street area in Makkah, like many other neighborhoods in the city, contains a large concentration of people from African backgrounds. As an inner city suburb the neighborhood suffers from a range of security and environmental issues.

One thing the neighborhood is famous for are the makeshift workshops that build beehives and wooden kitchen appliances. Located at the end of meandering alleyways and buildings that seem to have been built on top of each other, these workshops are difficult to access and in order to visit one needs a middleman from the local African communities that reside in the area.

Arab News was able to contact an African middleman to see the workshops for this exclusive report. After trying for a number of days I pretended to be a local businessman interested in buying wooden kitchen appliances and beehives.

I told my contact that I represented a Saudi company based in Jeddah and had come to Makkah to see products to market across the Hejaz area. Having paid the guide a huge amount of money I bought myself access to the factories to see for myself what is happening there.

The road to the neighborhood was so narrow that a car cannot drive directly to the workshop. I drove my car a short distance to the workshop and then set off on foot with the middleman. As I walked through the narrow alleyways, I began wondering what would happen if there was a fire in the area? How could a fire engine effectively reach the affected area?

After a grueling few minutes’ walk we managed to reach a large, empty piece of land with African workers busily hand carving beehives and kitchen appliances from wood.

I met the supervisor at the workshop who was called Idrees and told him that I needed a thousand wooden beehives and large quantities of kitchen appliances.

Beehives are made from the hollow trunks of trees and expertly carved by hand. After negotiating for quite some time, Idrees told me that wooden beehives would cost SR300 each and kitchen appliances would cost SR10 each. I asked Idrees where he got his wood from, explaining that I needed the best type of wood. He said the wood they used was some of the best and came from farms in Jeddah, Makkah and Taif, adding that a large truck full of wood costs between SR200 and SR400.

I then told Idrees that I needed to discuss the price of the items with my boss in Jeddah and told him that my boss needed pictures of the beehives and kitchen appliances. At this Idrees became angry and said that taking pictures was not allowed. I then convinced him that he would be losing a potential customer if he didn’t allow me to take a few pictures.

After some serious negotiations, he agreed under the condition that I didn’t photograph the area and surroundings in a way that could lead the authorities to the location of the factory. After this, Idrees and I began negotiating the mode of payment. He told me that he needed half the cash in advance and the second half when collecting the goods.

At this I told him that he didn’t carry a legal iqama and therefore couldn’t guarantee my rights. Idrees told me that he could arrange a man with a valid iqama to write the contract. I agreed and we fixed a time to meet and sign the contract and exchange the cash. I then left the location.

It seems that these people have chosen this location because it is in a secluded area far from the authorities’ eye and difficult for strangers to find without a guide. While leaving I observed that the site was violating many fire and safety regulations.

Col. Jameel Arbaeen, fire chief of Makkah, said the fire brigade regularly patrol the streets of Makkah and write reports on potential danger areas. He said, “We submitted a report to the governor’s office about this location and the danger it poses. If there was a fire then there would be a massive problem because fire engines are unable to reach deep inside.”