Business in vegetable markets here are under the monopoly of a group of expatriates violating the Kingdom's residency regulations, an official source in the Labor Office here has admitted. The official said owing to this unfair practice several Saudis are finding it difficult to survive in the business. Acknowledging that the nationalization committee in the market has lost its teeth since several members from the security apparatus left the committee drastically weakening its executive powers, the official said the committee now finds itself fighting its way all by itself. In fact, he said, the committee is helpless in the face of clear violations of even the involvement of several Saudis. These Saudis, he said, give a cover to expatriate vendors by renting out their stalls to them. Saudi youth, he said, is left with no alternative but to abandon the market and suffer huge losses. The committee, he said, recently held a series of meetings with the Labor Office here seeking the return of security members who alone have the authority to make arrests. Faris Al-Harithy, a Saudi vendor, described the situation in the market as chaotic especially during Ramadan. He said Saudi vendors cannot withstand the fierce price war in the market unleashed by expatriate vendors. He said this has left no option for the Saudi vendors but to succumb to the will of the expatriate groups or pull out of the market. Fahd Al-Rasheed, another Saudi vendor, has called upon authorities concerned to tighten control over the market and get rid of illegal expatriate vendors. Al-Rasheed said field inspectors are rarely seen conducting tours of the market.
