Al-Jazirah LATELY a new phenomenon has started appearing in our public streets, which is a sign of anarchy. This phenomenon — street trade — is not limited to Riyadh alone but is found in many other cities of the Kingdom. A lack of monitoring by the governmental authorities and the municipalities played a role in the unrestrained spread of this phenomenon all over the Kingdom. The fact that many people prefer to buy from the street vendors has encouraged this uncivilized trade to flourish. As a result, other people judge Saudi society negatively. An example of these ugly scenes is the trucks parked randomly on street sides selling fruit and vegetables, including tomatoes and watermelon. The owners of the trucks buy these fruit and vegetables at cheap prices and fool their customers into buying them at a much higher rate, not to speak of produces of unknown origin that could be harmful to consumer health. This inappropriate trade is occurring in our streets almost every day. God knows if these fruit and vegetables are even clean and safe to eat. In addition, there are vans that sell ice cream to the citizens in a primitive way. These vans can be exposed to insects and dust. Some other sellers serve tea, sandwiches and many other kinds of dishes in the same unhealthy manner. What is the reason for all these chaos? The majority of the vendors are expatriates. Do they have a license to practice this job? Do they have a health certificate? No one bothers to ask these kinds of questions. This phenomenon takes place at night, especially on weekends. Why does the municipality allow such situations to happen? Where are the inspectors? It is obvious that no one bothers to monitor these food vans and ensure the safety of the products they sell. It is important to note that even though all supermarkets have these kinds of food, citizens tend to buy from food vans due to their flexibility. Should we blame the sellers? Or the municipality? Or the Ministry of Labor and Social Development? Surely the municipality and the ministry are to blame. The primary responsibility falls on the ministry, which allowed this anarchy to prevail in the first place. The citizens who buy from those vendors are also responsible. On the other hand, the vendors' answer to all of these complaints would simply be: "As long as there is no monitoring by the authorities and the citizens are happy to buy our food, then why would we quit? This is an easy way to make money." Many citizens are against this phenomenon, which is causing a mess in the streets of the Kingdom. Many citizens are demanding answers from the municipality and the ministry for the presence of these harmful vans operated by unlicensed expats in our streets. The citizens are asking: Is not this messy phenomenon obvious enough to eliminate? Is it not your responsibility to track down the violators? This phenomenon will never end as long as no one stops them. Why are we silent about it? All we see today is the Ministry of Labor and Social Development threatening legitimate employees in the private sector. Then where is the ministry when it comes to these illegal sellers in the streets? The ministry would simply say they are going after the legal employees for the sake of applying Saudization. If this is the case, then we must establish special authorized stalls for Saudis, especially Saudi widows who have no one to support them financially. The easiest thing we can do for unemployed Saudis is to set up stalls where they can serve tea to the public.
