Quite a few female shops without licenses

Arwa Al-Ama, assistant mayor for ladies section affairs in Jeddah Municipality, says most cases of violations field teams of the department observe on inspection tours are the absence of licenses for shops, poor hygienic conditions and not collecting medical health cards from the Ministry of Health, which are mandatory for any woman wishing to work in such shops.
“Poor awareness campaigns are the main cause of this,” Al-Ama told a local newspaper.
She explained that the licenses department had been transferred to the women’s department, which embarked on awareness campaigns through the website of the secretariat, as well as by distributing brochures.
The department also holds lectures and meetings for each group that received licenses in the last six months, as their businesses fall under the category of “start-ups”. She noted that the women’s department received applicants of different ages and classes.
Al-Ama stressed the fact that the secretariat does not proceed to close the violator’s shop immediately, but gives the erring party a grace period of three days to get a license.
“This grace period can be extended if the competent body saw seriousness in getting a license. The vast majority do not have a license because of ignorance of the legal procedures,” she said, noting that some others, however, intentionally neglect implementing the legal procedures, which leads to closure of the shop.