The Eastern Province municipality has decided to add more requirements before giving license to run shisha cafes. This comes following the initial step of removing shisha cafes from urban areas.

The owners of these cafes told local media they had received notices from the municipality forcing them to provide security guards on site and install surveillance cameras.

Binding directions included limiting opening hours until 2 a.m. at the latest.

Café owners said they received notices demanding that they refer to the municipality for violations detected at their premises.

A source said the municipality verbally directed these cafes to comply with the regulation that stipulates the provision of cameras and security guards and defines opening hours.

The source said that they received no applications for employment even after the owners of the cafes put up notices asking for Saudis to be employed in the security field. “The reasons may include the lack of a place for the security man to rest, the poor salary and not registering the employee in the social security system,” said the source.

The EP municipality earlier shut down shisha cafes on the Corniche of both Dammam and Alkhobar. It forced the owners to move their establishments away from urban areas for public health reasons. Some of these cafes were moved to Buqaiq Road.

Owners said that the requirements were enforced on only a select number of cafes.

The EP municipality has put in place requirements to grant licenses for the sale of shisha items. These outlets should be near cafes and should not be established narrow roads. In addition, they should be no less than 500 meters away from schools and mosques.