Vendors will be able to acquire temporary stalls in the central area surrounding the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, sources at the Madinah Municipality have said.

Ramadan Al-Zahrani, mayor of the Prophet’s Mosque, said 287 stalls will be made available in the first phase at three locations within the central area. These are Manakha one and two and Al-Saqifah.

“There were 671 male applicants and 136 female applicants,” he said. “The number of stalls will be increased in upcoming phases.”

“Applicants must be Saudi and must be in possession of a certificate from the department responsible for ascertaining social status,” he said. “The department must indicate the applicant’s profession. In addition, applicants must pledge that they will not lease their stall and that they will operate only within the confines of their allocated space.”

“Female applicants must bring with them civil status identification other than documentation from the civil registry,” he said. “Vendors found to be employing other individuals to operate their stalls will have their licenses withdrawn.”

“Only one member per family can acquire a stall at a time,” he said. “Stall vendors who fail to maintain hygiene and or carry their authorization pass will incur a financial penalty.”

“Licenses will also be withdrawn if offenses are repeated,” he said. “Vendors will have to remove all of their goods by the end of the work day to avoid confiscation.”