The winter has arrived and street vendors have started supplying sweaters and other clothes to help people protect themselves from cold weather. Citizens have expressed their anguish over the presence of such street vendors with a large number of people surrounding them. "This will tarnish the image of Abha," said Saad Al-Olyani, a Saudi, while speaking to Makkah Arabic daily. He said the vendors park their vehicles in front of big malls and shopping centers to get more customers. They sell low quality winter wears at cheaper rates exploiting the extreme weather condition. "They keep their products in the open and this could spread diseases," he said. Al-Olyani urged authorities to track down such vendors and stop their illegal business. "These vendors keep their vehicles in the corner of a street or in front of malls and shops exploiting the absence of monitoring authorities," he said. He said such traders would tarnish the image of Abha, which attracts a large number of tourists from within the Kingdom and abroad every year. "We don't know the source of these products supplied by street vendors and fear it could harm consumers," he explained. According to Naif Al-Bannawi, most of these street vendors are Saudis, adding that they sell unhygienic and substandard products exploiting the severe cold climate. But Nasser Al-Sulami said he did not find anything wrong with the winter wears supplied by street vendors at reasonable rates. "We need these clothes only for the winter and we can dispose them off after the season," he told the Arabic daily. A street vendor, who requested anonymity, said he purchased the new products from the wholesale market to sell them at reduced rates, taking low profits. "Municipal authorities impose fines on us for practicing trade without license," he pointed out. Abdul Aziz Al-Qahtani, manager of inspections at the Asir Mayoralty, said his department would not allow such illegal trade by street vendors. "We have warned them several times and we'll continue to fight this negative phenomenon," he added.
