A number of unemployed women have exploited the unsupervised areas of the Dammam waterfront to erect gaming tents for children without authorization.

Two women at the Corniche said the games lacked safety gear. “The games are mostly improvisations,” they said.

Amid the screaming children crowding the entrance to the games, one of the women operating them said: “The parents are surprised when we ask them to pay. They think the games are under the supervision of the EP Municipality and therefore free.”

There are two women supervisors for each game. “The games are cheap and safe,” she said.

She also said that no authorization is needed. “The warm weather and the Corniche attract children in their hordes. Sometimes, there are more than 30 children in an hour who want to play at the same time,” she said.

She said that the women operating the games are unemployed. However, the citizens are complaining because the space was a public park but now, “we have to pay,” said Musa Muhammad. “At first we thought that the municipality had erected them free of charge but it turns out that they are a private investment without any safety equipment.”

He said the commercial complexes cost too much, so people go to the Corniche to entertain themselves for free. He applauded the services provided at the Corniche in addition to the cleanliness of the place.

A mother remarked that the work these women are doing is similar to that of women who use the Corniche area to display items for sale. “It helps them to earn an income to support their families,” she said.