Okaz/Saudi Gazette TAIF — Livestock traders and grazers were unanimous in their view that the shifting of the city"s animal market to Al-Sayel Al-Sagheer did not bring with it any qualitative improvement in services. The animal market was earlier located in the heart of the city in Al-Hawiyyah area. The traders strongly criticized the Taif municipality for not honoring its promises that the new market would be a model market and would have all the required services. They said the new market lacked essential services, had low standard of environmental safeguards and was full of garbage and animal carcasses. The traders said during the rainy season it would be difficult for them to reach the market because the nearby valleys would become flooded. They called for establishing a water drainage system to drain floodwater so that the market would be easily accessible. Mohammed Al-Otaibi, a trader, said the municipality succeeded in shifting the animal market to a new place but it failed to bring along the required services. "The roads leading to the market have not been asphalted. They are also narrow and difficult to cross," he said. Otaibi said the new market needed regular cleanup and added that all pollutants, including bodies of dead animals, should be removed from the market. Khaled Abdullah said the chaos that had characterized the old animal market had been shifted to the new animal market. He hoped that the municipality would honor its promises to make it a model market.
