Saudi fruit, veg traders denounce expat buyer ban

Members of the special committee for nationalizing jobs in Jeddah’s central fruit and vegetable mark…

Members of the special committee for nationalizing jobs in Jeddah’s central fruit and vegetable market are being accused of preventing expatriates from buying fruit and vegetables wholesale. Traders have called this move illegal and say that it has already led to huge losses.

According to the traders, expatriates were only banned from selling at the stalls in the market but not from taking part on behalf of traders in the early morning auction for the wholesale purchase of fruit and vegetables.

Chairman of the traders’ committee, Saheem Al-Ghamdi, said the Saudization committee has used the help of secret police to prevent expatriate workers from selling fruit and vegetables and also from buying them when they arrive on trucks in the wee hours of the morning.

He said, as a result, the market lost more than SR4 million in just two days.

The municipality, on its part, denied issuing any decision limiting wholesale buying of fruits and vegetables to Saudis alone.

Director of the municipality’s department of markets Nasser Al-Jarallah said no decision was taken preventing expatriate workers from buying the fruits and vegetables at the daily auctions.

“The market is open for all. Legal expatriates can freely sell and buy in the central fruit and vegetables market,” he said.