Three popular cafes in the Eastern Province, which serve hubble-bubble also known locally as shisha, were shut down in a raid carried out by the municipality.

Speaking to the media, Mohammad Al-Sufaiyan, spokesman of Eastern Province Municipality, said: “We received a lot of complaints from neighbors asking us to shut down the three cafes, including Al-Diwaniya and Al-Omam, as they were affecting health and also causing inconveniences to the local residents.”

Faiz Al-Ghamdi, who lives near a shisha cafe, told Arab News that he would always have a problem parking his car as his slot was always occupied.

“When I return home, I always find my parking slot occupied by a car whose owner is enjoying a shisha at the local cafe nearby. Not only does the shisha smell envelop my house, I believe I will be addicted to shisha if the cafe is not shut down,” he said, adding: “I appreciate the effort of the Eastern Province Municipality, as they listened to our complaints and acted to safeguard the neighborhood.”

Abdullah, one of the customers at a shisha cafe, agreed that it would be better to move the cafe out of the residential area since it was annoying people.

“I frequent this place because it is close to my house, but if it is affecting others and causing problems, I don’t mind if the cafe is moved to another area,” he said, adding that neighbors who had suffered on account of the cafe were a happy lot after it was shut down.

The Eastern Province Municipality will conduct more inspections to check other places too to ensure they are following the rules and regulations.

“We had issued warnings to these cafes before we ordered their closure. We gave them notice to move from this place to some other area for the safety of the people,” said Al-Sufaiyan.