JEDDAH, 4 January — The Jeddah Municipality recently evicted 300 workers of a contracting company from the Model Slaughter House east of the expressway following a court verdict that rejected a plea submitted by the company for a renewal of its contract.
The verdict of the Court of Grievances not only denied the plea, but also rejected the United Company’s demand for compensation for the money spent on the maintenance of the slaughter house in the past.
The company, which has been operating the municipal facility for the past 11 years, claimed that it had spent more than SR10 million on repairs and maintenance of the municipal facility.
It also wanted a refund for the advance payment of rent for the period ending at the end of the Hijra calendar year (next March).
The officials sent to evict the workers of the contracting company had to use force to drive them from the premises, according to a source at the municipality.
The move follows the company’s delay in vacating the facility despite the court order despite the fact that the municipality had not asked for the outstanding payments from the company.
Abdullah Al-Shayie, the slaughter house’s contractor, said the municipality did not want the company to renew its contract because he owed the municipality a sum of SR1.5 million.
He added that he offered to pay double the amount, but the municipality refused and had now given the contract to another company.
Following Interior Minister Prince Naif’s earlier order to wait until the court decision on the case came, the municipality had delayed the eviction until the final court decision.
Al-Shayie said the municipality raided the premises and drove away his workers as soon as the first court verdict came and "the municipality did not wait until the issue of the final approval of the verdict."
He also pointed out that the municipality owed him six months’ rent paid in advance at the beginning of this year (March 2001).
