JEDDAH, 30 May 2005 — The plaster industry is booming in Jeddah. The only problem is that the factories are illegal ones working round the clock using overstayers who now hang around the Al-Badawi neighborhood
Residents told Al-Madinah newspaper that they are angry because most of the factories are operating without permits and that some of these factories were opened with the help of municipal employees. And as the factories churn out plaster dust day and night, residents wonder why the municipality isn’t taking action.
“The municipality ignored the neighborhood and excluded it from any development project,” said Sultan Al-Harbi, a Badawi resident. “The neighborhood lacks basic services, such as proper roads. Most of the roads are still dusty.”
Al-Harbi said overstayers have swarmed into the neighborhood and that they now number more than the legal residents.
He said the overstayers work in shifts, and the factories never stop. The first shift runs from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the second shift runs from 9 p.m. into the wee hours of the night.
“These factories must be moved to the industrial area in south Jeddah where are all the factories located,” Al-Harbi said.
The illegal factories are a safe haven for overstayers who run away from their sponsors. “In one residential area, there are tens of them living together in small apartment, of which half of them are overstayers,” said Turki Al-Saadi.
“We live in insecurity and in constant fear for the safety of our families,” Al-Saadi said. “The municipality should put an end to this mess they brought on because of their neglect.”
It’s a little unnerving, to say the least. “The air is polluted and so are the streets,” said Muteb Al-Mutairi. “These overstayers are annoying because they gather in large numbers at night and talk in loud voices — sometimes way pass midnight.”
Al-Mutairi said residents have complained many times to police and the municipality but with no proper response.
A manager of one of the factories who refused to mention his name said that most of the factories in the neighborhood have no permits. They rent enclosed areas for SR2,500 a month to start up a factory. It is because of these illegal factories that plaster of Paris prices have dropped dramatically.
Residents hope the municipality steps in soon and ends the “Al-Bawadi industrial revolution” so that they can get back to their lives — when the dust settles.
