In a move that defies logic, common sense and only serves to turn mild-manner vegetable lovers into raging carnivores, an official with too much time on his hands at the Department of Slaughterhouses and Public Markets deemed the sale of fresh vegetables to expats would threaten Saudization. You know, because all those Saudis clamoring to sell carrots under the noonday sun will be out of job.
Now the most obvious question is how would banning expats from the Jeddah vegetable market promote Saudization. I honestly don’t know, and I don’t think Mr. Only-Saudi-Eats-Veggies really knows. The only possible explanation is the vegetables are sold at wholesale prices, then rude expats come in with their beat-up Hiluxes, fill the cargo bed with string beans and enough carrots to seduce even the hardboiled Bugs Bunny, and run off to make a profit at the expense of some poor Saudis.
Of course, there is no law against buying and selling fresh produce to expats with legal residency permits.
And I seriously doubt that any seller is asking for proof of legal residency to sell a cucumber to a bedraggled Yemeni with a couple of kids in tow.
It appears that Mr. I’m-Keeping-All-My-Squash-for-Myself thinks he is doing the government a favor.
But it also seems he missed the memo from Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that competition in business is vital to a robust economy. Saudis and expats are to be treated the same and there is no special considerations for Saudis when it comes to buying and selling goods.
There is a tendency in this country that rules and laws are meant to be broken. If an individual is supposed to return to a government office on Tuesday to pick up a piece of documentation that allows him to buy and operate a widget, and then the sleepy clerk tells him to come back on Sunday (because the chair he is sitting in is too comfortable to leave), then that would be an abuse of power in all its pettiness. To deny an expat a half-kilo of okra because of some vague and manufactured notion that it would bring about the collapse of Saudization, well, that’s even a pettier abuse of power.
This logic that only the most obscure low-level bureaucrat would understand (and celebrate) has consequences. Mr. I’ll-Have-Your-Peas-for-Lunch-Sister has created a conflict between sellers and the marketplace managers. Apparently several expat sellers and buyers have been arrested (that’s a new one: Arrested on suspicion of possession of lima beans with the intent to sell). The result is the reported loss of SR4 million a day.
But that’s OK. Now Saudis will be pouring into the market to get their fair share of vegetables. Now they can feed their families and make a profit too! I’m sure that is what the Saudi government was thinking when it established its road map for job creation.
Expats! There still is hope. There’s the frozen food aisle at groceries. Be happy with that. At least until someone discovers it infringes on Saudization.
Now the most obvious question is how would banning expats from the Jeddah vegetable market promote Saudization. I honestly don’t know, and I don’t think Mr. Only-Saudi-Eats-Veggies really knows. The only possible explanation is the vegetables are sold at wholesale prices, then rude expats come in with their beat-up Hiluxes, fill the cargo bed with string beans and enough carrots to seduce even the hardboiled Bugs Bunny, and run off to make a profit at the expense of some poor Saudis.
Of course, there is no law against buying and selling fresh produce to expats with legal residency permits.
And I seriously doubt that any seller is asking for proof of legal residency to sell a cucumber to a bedraggled Yemeni with a couple of kids in tow.
It appears that Mr. I’m-Keeping-All-My-Squash-for-Myself thinks he is doing the government a favor.
But it also seems he missed the memo from Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that competition in business is vital to a robust economy. Saudis and expats are to be treated the same and there is no special considerations for Saudis when it comes to buying and selling goods.
There is a tendency in this country that rules and laws are meant to be broken. If an individual is supposed to return to a government office on Tuesday to pick up a piece of documentation that allows him to buy and operate a widget, and then the sleepy clerk tells him to come back on Sunday (because the chair he is sitting in is too comfortable to leave), then that would be an abuse of power in all its pettiness. To deny an expat a half-kilo of okra because of some vague and manufactured notion that it would bring about the collapse of Saudization, well, that’s even a pettier abuse of power.
This logic that only the most obscure low-level bureaucrat would understand (and celebrate) has consequences. Mr. I’ll-Have-Your-Peas-for-Lunch-Sister has created a conflict between sellers and the marketplace managers. Apparently several expat sellers and buyers have been arrested (that’s a new one: Arrested on suspicion of possession of lima beans with the intent to sell). The result is the reported loss of SR4 million a day.
But that’s OK. Now Saudis will be pouring into the market to get their fair share of vegetables. Now they can feed their families and make a profit too! I’m sure that is what the Saudi government was thinking when it established its road map for job creation.
Expats! There still is hope. There’s the frozen food aisle at groceries. Be happy with that. At least until someone discovers it infringes on Saudization.
