JEDDAH, 16 April 2008 — A number of dabbab (mini pickup van) drivers have refused to pay the new fees for the loaded vehicles entering the south Jeddah goat market yesterday. They said the fees, SR10 for a small vehicle and SR50 for a truck, on each entry were unreasonable.
The mayor’s office ordered recently that only vehicles paying the new fee rates would be allowed to enter the market. The drivers feared that the new order would force them to look for other jobs.
An expatriate driver said the present order was implemented on an earlier occasion but suspended because of opposition. “I obtained a license for the minivan and signed the hiring contract for my location at the market hoping that I could work here, but yesterday I was not allowed to enter the market until I paid a fee at the gate,” the driver said.
Most drivers are expatriates working under their sponsors. “Our sponsors would not pay the new fees. More than two third of the money we earn will have to be paid as municipal fees,” one driver said.
In the present context of rising prices for every thing the new order will force us look for work elsewhere.”
