MAKKAH: Street hawkers selling a variety of items like vegetables, fruits, abayas, clothes etc. are a common sight in Makkah during Ramadan and Haj seasons. They are not only making money selling items at high prices but also hindering free movement of ambulances and pilgrims walking in and out of Mina at the end of Al-Jamarat near Bindawood superstore. They are also found along the streets leading to the Grand Mosque. The condition was worst on the last day of the Haj as thousands of pilgrims started moving out of Mina after stoning the devils. The narrow street leading to the main road in Aziziyah District was occupied by these hawkers and the pilgrims had to jostle and walk with great difficulty. Young police recruits who were deployed to control the traffic and the crowd had tough time. When a hawker was pushed to the corner of the road, the other hawker occupied the space immediately. Many of these hawkers were found occupying the space from the start of the Haj rituals day and night. A Yemeni fruit vendor was found selling fruits at high price at the end of the street selling oranges for SR10 per kg, apples for SR12 per kg and banana for SR10 per kg. Mushtaq Ahmad, a Pakistani pilgrim, was furious when he heard about the high prices of the fruits. “These hawkers are looting innocent pilgrims,” he said. “There should be a regulating body to check the prices of the goods sold,” Ahmad suggested. There were many Bengali, Burmese, Indonesian and African girls and women selling abayas, clothes, water bottles, artificial jewelries and edibles. They had virtually occupied the road and some of them were standing in the middle of the road obstructing movement of ambulances and the pilgrims. “Next Haj the authorities should take stern action against these hawkers and stop them from blocking the street,” said Yahya, a pilgrim from Turkey whose accommodation is located in a hotel on the same street. “The hawkers should be allowed to make a living but not at the cost of the pilgrims,” said Amjad Khan, a pilgrim from India.
