Saudi Gazette MAKKAH — The General Administration of Environmental Health in cooperation with the Municipality of Al-Shuwaikh in Makkah launched a large-scale field inspection campaign on street vendors in Al-Kaakiya market and on the sidewalks and streets in Al-Souk area. The municipality conducted a comprehensive survey of all the sites with high presence of street vendors before the campaign was launched. Mansour Bin Said Balubaid, director general of environmental health, said street vendors sold unhealthy and contaminated food, fruit and vegetables, sandwiches, fries, tea and coffee. "The food items displayed randomly on public roads are exposed to pollution from dust and heat. They also lacked standard storage and transportation controls," he said. Balbaid stressed that there were directives from Undersecretary for Services Abdul Salam Mashat stressing the need to intensify efforts to ensure the safety of all supplied food and address the phenomenon of street vendors. Mamdouh Bin Mohammed Iraqi, mayor of Al-Shuwaikh Municipality, said the municipality participated in the campaign with equipment, transportation vehicles and necessary manpower. The campaign resulted in removing many irregular stalls that sell unhealthy goods and 15 large vans were confiscated. He noted that the campaign continued throughout the week. Iraqi said the municipality spared no effort in following up and monitoring the sites where street vendors are located and preventing them from using public spaces for trading activity. Iraqi urged citizens and residents to share their vision and refuse to buy food from street vendors to protect their children. He called on the public to report people selling food on the streets to the municipality through the unified number 940.
