Several citizens here say that illegal vendors still control the Jeddah fruit and vegetable market despite government’s crackdown on undocumented expatriates.

They told Arab News that the market has not fulfilled stipulations of the Ministries of Labor and Commerce and Industry, for the market to have a quota of 70 percent Saudi workers. They said expatriates make up more than 60 percent of the market.

During a tour of the market, several citizens said that they are unhappy about the situation.

Mohammad Al-Mazroui and Abdullah Al-Jahdali, who work at the market, welcomed government’s attempt to Saudize it but said this was not being done properly. Poor monitoring has resulted in expatriates forming alliances against Saudis, they claimed.

They called on government’s Saudization committees to conduct surprise inspection tours, especially during the evening, to catch transgressors.

Ali Al-Qurashi and Ahmad Klintin said that most expatriate workers at the market help each other to undermine Saudi businesses by manipulating prices. This made trading especially difficult for inexperienced Saudi businesspeople, they said.

They called on the government to review the manner in which its committees monitor markets and conduct raids.

First Lt. Nawaf Al-Bouq, spokesman for Jeddah police, told Arab News that the police are conducting extensive raids at all commercial areas in Jeddah, including the fruit and vegetable market.

Police officers check workers’ residence and work permits, and have clamped down on the sale of various items including Zamzam water and food. He said the police have conducted raids at the market since the beginning of February, arrested 80 illegal workers and seized more than 60 stalls. Al-Bouq urged citizens to report work and residency violations by expatriates.