Shop owners in Madina sour with behavior of commission staffersMADINA – Several coffee shop owners here have raised complaints about the behavior of members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Hai'a, including their alleged repeated inspections, interference with the shops' lighting, chairs and doors, and often conflicting orders from different agents. The owners claim the actions of the Hai'a have cost them a lot of money and called on the authority to issue clear and specific regulations for coffee shops. Khaled Al-Harbi, the owner of a coffee shop on a main street, called on the Hai'a inspectors to have “reasonable” demands and for them to carry out inspections “outside the shops”. “They often violate the privacy of customers sitting inside,” he said. Al-Harbi said that he cannot bear any further expenses resulting from implementing regulations ordered by the Hai'a agents. Al-Harbi said he avoids clashes with the Hai'a by not arguing and immediately complying with any orders. Nasser Abdul Aziz, owner of another coffee shop, claims the agents “burst into the family section three times in one day”. This makes customers reluctant to come again and negatively affects the place's reputation, he said. Aziz said Hai'a inspectors should not be allowed to enter coffee shops for inspections and for them to inspect “suspicious people” outside. “Entering the place and asking for identification in a loud voice is unacceptable and results in losses for us,” he said. Khaled Fallata, owner of a coffee shop in one of the city's largest markets, said the Hai'a men deal with coffee shops “depending on their mood”. Each agent that comes to his shop “has a different observation” to make, he claimed. On one occasion an agent asked him to block one of the sides of the shop because he said women ascending and descending escalators could be seen. Lawyer Saud Al-Hujaili said the commission's agents are not authrorized to interfere with a coffee shop's technical set-up like the position of chairs, lighting and gates. They only have the right to check the identification of patrons “with the permission of the shop owner or permission from the region's Emir's Office”. He added that a coffee shop owner has the legal right to prevent the Hai'a staffers from entering and should demand they produce a government raid order. The law is clear on this point. It bans the agents from entering houses or shops or any private property without the owner's permission, he added. He said that owners, who have their shops inspected several times a day, have the right to file a case against the Hai'a. The spokesman for the Madina Hai'a, Bandar Al-Rubaishi, could not be reached for comment.
