The Civil Defense has revoked the commercial license of three big shopping centers in Jeddah due to several health and safety violations, Makkah Arabic daily reported on Monday.

A source from Jeddah Municipality said the municipality carried out a number of inspections during the past two months and recorded a number of health and safety violations in these shopping centers.

He said the municipality sends a notice to the owner if violations are recorded.

The owner of the establishment must then report back to the municipality proving that all measures have been taken to ensure that violations will not be repeated.

The owners of the three shopping centers did not respond to the municipality’s warning notices.

“Ignoring the warning notices results in fines which could reach up to SR50,000. The owner of the establishment could also risk his business being temporarily or permanently closed,” said the source.

The source said the violations included locked emergency exits and glitches in extinguishers and fire hoses in parking areas.

The shopping centers were given a deadline to tackle the violations recorded.

Meanwhile, Makkah Governorate, Jeddah Municipality and the Civil Defense will form a committee to follow up on the case. If the committee is not satisfied with the measures taken to ensure safety, it may recommend permanent closure of these shopping centers.

Generally a 30-day deadline is given to comply. However, officials can extend the deadline if the violation does not pose a threat to customers.

Retail sales in Saudi Arabia grew around 5.7% in 2013 to USD 92.6 billion — or 16.1% of the kingdom’s gross domestic product— driven by a young population, rising disposable income and increased consumer confidence, according to a report on the GCC retail industry by Alpen Capital which was published in January.

The Civil Defense provisionally suspended the trading licenses of the malls after conducting safety inspections. (SPA)

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