Illegal hajj bazaars thrive in Saudi: report
Areas turned into huge open-air commercial centers
Illegal residents of African origin in al-Mansour and Rea Bakhsh suburbs of Mecca have turned those areas into huge open-air commercial centers for African pilgrims, a Saudi daily reported on Thursday.
In spite of municipality raids on those areas, the illegal bazaars continue to thrive, the daily Arab News said. Noticeably, the municipality has failed to close down an illegal supermarket that has become a breeding ground for various illnesses.
“Despite health hazards, African shoppers and diners are not deterred from visiting the areas,” the newspaper reported, pointing out that no thought is given to the potential health risks posed by the food and drink on offer.
In the open-air al-Mansour district market pilgrims can buy cheap African delicacies sold by African women squatting by their small gas cookers and piles of fruit, vegetables and meat, which all look spoiled.
Encouraged by their flourishing businesses, the women, aided by their husbands, had spread carpets and rugs in courtyards and alleyways where pilgrims could sit and eat, reported the Arab News, not far from piles of rubbish and stray cats prowling for leftovers.
Street vendors selling bric-a-brac, used clothes and old shoes ply the large crowds with their wares. In the spaces not taken up by enterprising Africans, pilgrims have erected plastic tents where they and their families sojourn, the paper reported. Public urination is not uncommon.
Dr. Muhammad Abdulwahab, head of the Chest Department at al-Ahli al-Saudi Hospital in Mecca, said using old clothes could contribute to the spread of disease-carrying parasites, such as lice, fleas and skin pigmentation.
“If items are worn on the head then they may also cause favus (a chronic skin infection caused by fungi),” he told Arab News.
Director General of Health Affairs in Mecca Dr. Khaled Zafar, who is also the head of the Hajj Executive Committee, noted that health education efforts are in place.
“The Health Affairs Department last year started a program, called Ambassadors of Health Awareness, wherein medical students volunteered to spread health awareness among the guests of God,” he was quoted as saying.
He added that the program would be intensified this year with the help of the Tawafa establishments, which hosts students, providing them with accommodation in Mecca.
If items are worn on the head then they may also cause favus (a chronic skin infection caused by fungi)Dr. Muhammad Abdulwahab