JEDDAH, 26 January 2007 — Municipal officials have announced that they would crack down on informal, unlicensed and possibly unhygienic restaurants in the city.
Sabri Qadah, head of the municipality branch in Jameah district, said the raids would target all sorts of illegal food outlets, including restaurants managed out of residences and illegally opened food stalls.
Asian expats, who cater to low-income foreigners, often manage these informal eateries. Jeddah’s older districts, such as Kandarah and Jameah, have higher numbers of these types of informal businesses, most of which are “family-run”.
Mohamed Bayonis, a resident of Kandarah, said that these types of restaurants are less common nowadays than they used to be. “Many families used to thrive on these businesses,” Bayonis said, adding that he doesn’t consider them less healthy than licensed restaurants. “I’ve been eating there for three years and I’m perfectly all right.”
Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, media official at the Jeddah Municipality, said that the raids had been mostly in the south of the city, but some establishments have been shut down in Obhur area in north Jeddah.
The raids, he said, often net illegal residents, too. “We are aiming to rid the city of any place that’s a threat to public health,” he said.
