Vendors hamper movement outside Prophet’s Mosque

OUT OF PLACE: Vendors have refused to rent the stalls allocated for them to display their products citing the high prices of those stalls. (AN photo)

MADINAH: Vendors have taken over the sidewalks and pathways in the central area near the Prophet’s Mosque and are hindering pedestrian movement and causing a traffic crisis.
Despite the allocation of stalls for vendors to display their products, most of them refuse to rent these stalls and told Al-Madinah that the high prices of those stalls made a lot of vendors leave, in addition to the lack of suitable sites near pedestrians in order to display their goods to the largest number of visitors and passers-by. They pointed out that they are complaining about the secretariat and police who forcibly destroy their stalls and confiscate their goods, but they said that some of the police and the secretariat are collaborating with them.
They added that they do this job following their ancestors, and stated that they are ready to leave the sidewalks in case an alternative is provided by the competent authorities. They demanded a suitable popular market to display their goods and practice their profession without the high rents.
The transportable stalls on moving wheeled stalls usually increase during the Haj and Umrah seasons in the markets and on the sidewalks near the Prophet’s Mosque, and this results in causing overcrowding and obstruction of traffic. Goods displayed vary in these stalls; some display clothing or accessories, and others display food, which is exposed to sunlight and the summer heat that exceeds 40°C.
This is not the first time the stalls in Madinah are up for discussion and it is like a series that has no end.
Salamah Al-Lahibi, the official spokesman for the Secretariat of Madinah, explained that a plan has been customized to apply a systematic regulation of fines and municipal penalties issued by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers against street vendors and also to prevent the occurrence of such violations.
He added that it is well known that stalls in the streets and roads cause overcrowding and obstruction of traffic, and it is considered one of the violations of unlicensed selling, which is not allowed, especially as it does not take into account the public interest.