Saudi Gazette report

 

HAIL — Several Saudi traders at the secondhand market in Hail have called on the authorities to make an urgent intervention and address the labor violations taking place at the market.



They claimed that illegal foreign workers dominate the market and make it hard for Saudi traders to turn a profit, according to a report in the business daily Al-Eqtisadiah.



Hudairi Al-Harbi, a Saudi trader at the market, said there are 51 stores selling secondhand furniture at the market, of which 47 are run by foreigners.



“These foreigners rent the stores from Saudis for an average monthly amount of SR5,000. These workers have almost dominated the market and they are selling goods at higher rates,” he alleged.



Al-Harbi said the practice is in clear violation of the Kingdom’s regulations, which have explicit provisions that Saudi investors who lease stores from the municipality will not rent them out to a third party. These investors are also not allowed to hire foreign workers and have to run the stores themselves.



Mufleh Al-Rashidi, another Saudi trader, said urgent intervention from the Labor Office was needed to enforce Saudization of the market.



“The illegal practices being followed by foreign workers after renting stores from Saudis have dealt a severe blow to Saudi traders who have no other means to make ends meet,” he said.



Suleiman Al-Quba, a store owner, said illegal workers use the market to peddle stolen goods.



“Some of these stray workers, whose identities remain unknown, are using the market to sell stolen goods, especially due to inaction on the part of municipal authorities to crack down on such activities,” he said. Muhammad Al-Masarie, director general of Labor Office in Hail, said inspectors from the office, in cooperation with the other agencies including police, have raided the market several times, and this resulted in the arrest of several illegal workers.



“The last raid was on Wednesday when 20 illegal workers were arrested and six stores were shut down for violating regulations. During the raid, many workers simply ran away, leaving their stores unattended,” he said, adding that Saudization will be implemented at the market and Saudis will be encouraged to run more stores.



He urged Saudi traders to extend full support to the Labor Office to Saudize the market and inform them of any illegal foreigners working there. “We will aggressively carry out inspection raids to put an end to the illegal practices of stray foreign workers,” he added.