Opinion

Punish expats engaged in cover-up business

October 02, 2018
Punish expats engaged in cover-up business

Ahmad Al-Zahrani

Okaz newspaper

Newspapers recently ran a true story on betrayal, which was about a young Syrian man named Bahaa and his accomplice in crime, who robbed and murdered an 80-year-old American man in his house in Istanbul. The victim in this story had chosen the city of Istanbul for his retirement. Details have shown that the victim met Bahaa in Taksim Square, where the Syrian told him that he was a refugee, hungry and without a home. The victim with good intentions took him home to feed him and give him shelter. Bahaa along with his accomplice, murdered the old man, stole his money and other belongings and escaped.

People were shocked at the crime and the cruelty of Bahaa and his accomplice who mercilessly murdered the old man.

However, opinion differs with regard to a similar crime in central Jeddah, where expat workers intend to destroy the country’s economy. A video clip showed a large number of closed shops in Bab Sharif, due to the implementation of the Saudization drive that targeted shops selling automobile spare parts, bicycles, clothing and office and home furniture. Owners closed their shops to avoid inspection by the authorities. This shows the serious nature of the problem of cover-up businesses, which target our national economy and the future generation at the hands of these expat workers. When the country opened its arms for expats to work, they betrayed the country and with the help of Saudi nationals, they ran cover-up businesses that sent billions of riyals abroad.

If you asked any person, even those who are against the death penalty, if Bahaa should be executed for his crime, I am sure that they would agree. The same can be said about expat workers involved in cover-up businesses who have betrayed the country in Bab Sharif. They deserve the severe and massive penalties stipulated in Article IV for anti-commercial concealment. They should be sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years, and fined one million riyals for each shop. Furthermore, they should be defamed and their licenses should be revoked. Finally, they should be deported to their countries after their punishment.

We should create an alternative plan for Saudization to avoid the problems that occurred in cell phone shops and the fruit market. As I have suggested before, we should allocate the money collected in levying financial concealment fines to support Saudi youth in carrying out business activities. Our young people will surely succeed and will help our national economy to flourish.


October 02, 2018
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