Some in the fruit market said that the steep price rise could also be attributed to the nearing of the end of the amnesty period for expat workers because not many of these workers — working in farms — have managed to rectify their status and transfer their sponsorship to another sponsor and have left or are preparing to leave before the grace period.
Businessmen in the fruit market too have refused to reduce the price because supply is scarce and demand is on the rise. Abdullah Isakh, a Najran businessman, told Al-Watan daily that the price increase by farm owners and wholesale businessmen is not justified. He said, "The recent change in the local labor market played an important factor. The number of expat workers is on the decline, in addition to the rising cost or labor. At the end, the consumer always suffers due to increasing prices.
Al-Watan met with Khaled Al-Atallah the head of Labor Ministry branch in Najran and asked him about the connection between the price increase and the amnesty. He said that price increase is normal in the upcoming time because the market was emptied from illegal workers that were controlling the market. Now the market is limited to few stalls. He said, "The main factor behind price increase of tomatoes is the businessmen themselves who have intentionally created the shortage in the market. This is partly because there is no supervision on the fruit market."
