JEDDAH, 11 July — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, has assured traders in Jeddah’s vegetable market that he will find solutions to their problems.
“I know of your problems in detail,” the prince told the traders during a meeting at Al-Salam Palace, according to Al-Watan newspaper yesterday.
The paper said as many as 25 traders presented a joint complaint to the crown prince seeking his intervention to solve problems caused to them by officials of the Passports Department and the municipality.
“Prince Abdullah, accompanied by his entourage, stopped to greet the traders who had assembled in front of the palace and promised them that he would do everything possible to solve their problems,” the paper said.
The petition presented to Prince Abdullah was signed by a large number of traders, who thanked the crown prince for his gesture and commended his interest in the prosperity of citizens. In their petition, the traders complained that municipal and passport officials had been arresting their workers and had been sending them to deportation centers after forcing them to sign affidavits to the effect that they had been engaged in business activities in the market.
“These employees are working under the sponsorship of our establishments. They hold valid iqamas, and are employed to unload vegetables and fruits from trucks,” the traders explained. “Your Highness, we are facing injustice and oppression from the Jeddah Municipality and the Passports Department. We request you to stop this injustice and allow our employees to perform their duties like the employees in other vegetable markets,” the petition said.
According to Al-Watan newspaper, the merchants on Sunday called off a work stoppage they had launched to protest the action after Dr. Ibrahim Alam, deputy mayor of Jeddah, gave them assurances that he would take measures to solve their problems.
The wholesale merchants in Halaga had refused to unload trucks protesting the “insulting” actions by the municipality and the passport officers in the name of Saudization.
Prices of vegetables in the retail market went up sharply on Sunday due to the protest action in Halaga. A kilogram of tomatoes was sold for SR5 instead SR3, registering a 66 percent rise. But the prices returned to normal levels following the agreement.
Referring to complaints that a contracting company has been charging merchants exorbitant rents for parking refrigerated trucks in the market premises, Alam said the rates were reasonable and in accordance with the contract terms.
According to a Halaga merchant, the contracting company was demanding an annual rent of SR270,000 for parking a truck in the premises. Earlier the charge was SR11,000.
Saleh Al-Quraishi, a leading merchant in Halaga, condemned maltreatment of customers and workers by the municipal and passport officers.
