Arrested overstayers are seen sitting in a police van in Jeddah. — Archives Okaz/Sudi Gazette TAIF – Hawkers. They are everywhere on streets and most of them are overstayers. They chase citizens and residents. You see them in markets, near mosques, by traffic signs, and at parks. They are unskilled workers selling different items such as fake watches, nuts, perfumes, tissues and toys. These workers take millions of riyals away from the national economy as they neither pay municipality fees nor rent. Who is responsible for these workers we see everywhere, even at doors of our houses? Okaz/Saudi Gazette visited several regions and interviewed some of the workers to learn about the methods they use for selling and how this phenomenon began. “I don't know who my Saudi sponsor is,” said Muhammad Aslam, a Pakistani. “My cousin paid SR8,000 for my visa and I came here. I could not find work so I've had to sell nuts at malls and by traffic signs every day. I paid back my cousin's money. I make SR50 to SR80 in profits a day.” Aslam said he sometimes faces problems due to inspection campaigns. “I've been living here for the last three years without a residence permit,” said Ayman Al-Qafari, a Yemeni national. “I sell vegetables and fruits on streets using this pushcart. I make SR80 to SR120 a day, SR3,600 a month.” Municipality inspectors sometimes raid his pushcart and seize his goods, he said, so he buys a new pushcart and moves to another street. “I came to perform Haj and I stayed here looking for a job,” said Aslam Muhammad Shah, a Bangladeshi. “I wash cars at malls' parking lots and near houses. I wash six or seven cars a day for SR10. I will return to my country when I save the money I paid to come to the Kingdom.” Okaz/Saudi Gazette asked some citizens and residents about this phenomenon. “You can find undocumented workers everywhere around the world, but not as many as there are in Jeddah,” said Meshari Nayef. “They sell water bottles, kitchen utensils, firecrackers, etc.” Nayef said he does not buy products from hawkers for health and safety reasons. “These hawkers cost our economy millions of riyals,” said Fahd Majid. “Some of them are women who knock at the doors to sell watches and other stuff.” With the help of Natheer Muhammad, a certified accountant who works in a large firm in Jeddah, Okaz/Saudi Gazette conducted a study. “Some hawkers selling water bottles by traffic signs make 100-percent profits,” Muhammad said. “Why? Because they do not have to pay fees, rent and utility bills. Some of them sell fruit on streets and make SR2,800 a month.” These workers transfer SR20 million to SR40 million to their homelands every year, he added. “There are field inspectors who chase hawkers in all regions, seize their goods, impose fines on them, and then hand them over to police stations,” said Ismail Ibrahim, Taif Municipality media adviser. “The Department of Environmental Health sends field inspectors, some of them undercover, to arrest anyone who is selling something and violating health requirements,” said Abdullah Ali Makki, head of the Tarbah Branch Municipality. __
