New timing at bird market ruffles feathers

RIYADH, 15 September – Traders as well as buyers at the bird market in Riyadh’s Aziziya district protested the municipal decision to restrict the working hours of the market to three hours between the afternoon and sunset prayers. While the municipality argued that three hours are sufficient for the trading in birds, the traders complained that the new move seriously affected their business. Some of them have shifted to the nearby sheep market though bird sales are illegal at the sheep market. Mohammed Al-Nofaie, chairman of the Al-Janoub municipality in which the market is situated, said the reduced working hours of the bird market was aimed to avoid confusion caused by bird traders to the auctions taking place at the same market.