JEDDAH, 7 March 2007 — A group of investors from Jeddah went to Riyadh yesterday with the intention of appealing to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. They want the monarch to stop a plan to relocate the city’s livestock market from the eastern part of the city to a location on the city’s south.

The move, scheduled to begin on Monday, was strenuously objected to by the merchants in the market. Yesterday, the authorities attempted to block the entrance to the market in order to pressure owners into leaving, but the owners managed to remain in place and bought some time until higher authorities resolve the issue.

“It is not fair,” said Eid Al-Subhi, a Saudi cattle dealer in his late 40s. “The new location is too far away and much more expensive to rent,” he said.

Al-Subhi and other dealers said that prices of livestock would soar if they moved to the new market because of high rents. He added that security was another problem. “Both buyers and sellers carry a lot of cash with them and to have that much money in an isolated area is very dangerous. The roads leading to the site are unsafe and known for thieves ambushing cars and robbing motorists.”

Al-Subhi said that they paid SR3,000 a year for an 100-square meter area in the current market while in the new market they will have to pay SR10,000 for 70 square meters. “This will surely affect the price of livestock and consequently have the wrong impact on our business.”

Saleh Al-Samadani, a livestock owner, said the new location in Khomrah area, is too far to reach and is unsafe. He noted that a sewage dump was located near the new market. “I’m very suspicious about the municipality’s desire to move the market into a more expensive place,” Al-Samadani said, adding that the municipality has not even considered reducing rents.

The man known as the sheikh of the market — he is informally elected by investors to speak on their behalf and deal with the government — said that the men were trying to resolve the issue as peacefully as possible. He said that he had gone to both the police and the municipality and added, “We are waiting until the arrival of the group who went to talk to the king.”

He said that work in the market would continue until Saturday. “Then we will know if we are to shift or stay,” he said.

Saleh Al-Bogami, a frequent buyer of sheep, said that he was not in favor of the market’s shift. “I live in the far north of the city and it would be a long trip for me to go so far south,” he said.

Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, head of the media center at the Jeddah Municipality, said in an earlier interview that the new location was selected after the municipality received many complaints from people living near the current market.

Al-Ghamdi said the new location had electricity, water and a veterinary clinic. He noted that the municipality had repaired three roads in order to make it easy for people to reach the location.