The Saudi authorities responded to a video that went viral on Twitter, after it documented an argument between a street vendor and a government employee asking him to remove his booth that he had set up on the side of a road to sell potatoes.
In the video clip, the employee of the Municipality of Tabuk appears trying to stop one of the sellers, while the seller responded, which some described as “influential”, saying: “I am a Saudi and I come to work with halal, do you want me to steal?”
Amanat area #tabuk Trying to stop one of the young Saudi sellers
And a Saudi young man replies, “I am Saudi, and I come to work with halal.” #ramadan #Haram_Seal pic.twitter.com/1wWGTlp1Ni
– A group of the people of Tabuk (@ Tabuk1435) April 29, 2022
The video sparked a wave of reactions for and against the employee and the seller. The Municipality of Tabuk region said that “the employee’s tour came in response to several reports from citizens about the practice of vending and the resulting damage to their health, as a result of not applying health requirements.”
#explanatory_statement#Tabouk_Area_Secretariat pic.twitter.com/QAhxGnAXhW
— Tabuk Region Municipality (@tabukm) April 30, 2022
One of the users said: “Basta or Arabic (cart) or similar things are considered harmful to society and contribute to visual pollution (…) and there is no examination or license for workers, and the products may be of unknown source.”
He added, “Even if the son of the country must be in order, and others like this (this) crowd official stores with a business permit… the solution? Just follow the system.”
Another user said: “The seller’s method is wrong in his dealings with the municipality employee (…) the system must be applied whether we like it (we wanted) or not, because the work without a system is socially dangerous and the municipality must facilitate the procedures.”
Another citizen, Saleh Al-Marwani, indicated that “with the support of young people in their projects and the search for them for better solutions than the story of Basta soup and embers tea, because it has turned into a widespread phenomenon in the streets, and I am sure that no one accepts it except from a need and a request for livelihood. I hope that there are solutions to empower young people.” urbanized and finding a place for them similar to some areas, instead of extending the stick without a carrot!”
Another person named “Abu Fahd Al-Asiri” said: “It is assumed that any Saudi young man looking for a livelihood we encourage, support and motivate him to encourage young people to trade and occupy their time in a way that benefits them and society…but the municipalities I hope they overlook a bit, because young people do not find (they did not get) jobs. This is a better deed for him than stealing and loitering (loitering) in the streets.”
The truth is, the blame is all on the trust, and the reason is not finding special places for young people to sell their family products,, and this contributes to reducing unemployment and contributing to solving many financial problems,, They should help young people instead of restricting them and chasing them from place to place.
— Saad Al Harthy (@SAAD_A_HRT) April 29, 2022
While the tweeter Saad Al-Harthy said: “The truth is, the blame is all on the honesty, and the reason is that there are no special places for young people to sell their products (…) and this contributes to reducing unemployment and contributing to solving many financial problems (…) They should help young people instead of restricting them. them and chase them from place to place.”