- Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Saltmaker still collects salt by hand
- Date: 18th February 2014
- Summary: BURAIDAH, SAUDI ARABIA (RECENT) (REUTERS ) VARIOUS OF ELDERLY SAUDI SALTMAKER PICKING UP NATURAL SALT FROM MARSH IN DESERT VARIOUS OF SALTMAKER CHECKING SALT VARIOUS OF SALT MARCH IN THE MIDDLE OF DESERT WET SALT SHOVEL SALTMAKER PUTTING SHOVEL IN HIS CAR SALTMAKER DRIVING OFF CAR DRIVING STREET SIGN READING (Arabic) "AL-SHAKAH METAL SALT" VARIOUS OF SALTMAKER FILLING BAG WITH SALT TO SELL IT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SALTMAKER, SALEH AL-JANDAL, SAYING: "When the rain comes I stay at home and when the land becomes dry we go to work in the salt marshes. We collect the salt in piles. When customers come, we sell it to them." VARIOUS OF SALTMAKER PACKAGING NATURAL SALT BIG PILE OF NATURAL SALT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SALTMAKER, SALEH AL-JANDAL, SAYING: "We keep the salt in piles and then we begin to fill it in bags. We fill between 20-50 bags per day depending on our energy." CUSTOMER ASKING ABOUT SALT PRICE VARIOUS OF CUSTOMER PUTTING BAGS FULL OF SALT IN CAR VARIOUS OF CUSTOMER PAYING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic), SALT CUSTOMER, MSSALAM AL-HARBI, SAYING: "We buy the salt from Al-Shakah, we mix it with barley to feed the livestock which doesn't go to the pastures. The livestock eats it which makes them not eat their wool. The price of one bag is SR15 ($3.9)." CUSTOMER LEAVING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SALTMAKER, SALEH AL-JANDAL, SAYING: "Now people use salt for their poultry and livestock, salt is useful even in cable constructions, they add salt to protect the cables." VARIOUS OF SALT MARSH
- Embargoed: 5th March 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Saudi Arabia
- Country: Saudi Arabia
- Topics: Business,Industry
- Reuters ID: LVA76O8XYY6UCSC0CT2842B7V92E
- Story Text: Saleh al-Jandal has worked in the al-Shakah salt mine in Saudi Arabia's Buraidah desert for 20 years.
Now in his sixties, al-Jandal spends his day collecting natural salt with his bare hands, only with the help of a shovel.
He goes to the mine every morning, unless it rains, and collects about 50 bags of salt for his customers, who in turn will use it either for human consumption or for their livestock.
At about four US dollar per bag, al-Jandal earns about 200 US dollars a day from selling salt that is considered to be the finest in the kingdom.
"When the rain comes I stay at home and when the land becomes dry we go to work in the salt marshes. We collect the salt in piles. When customers come, we sell it to them", he says.
The work is strenuous and hard and requires much physical effort. That is why sometimes the amount of bags al-Jandal can fill, depends on how well he is on the day.
"We keep the salt in piles and then we begin to fill it in bags. We fill between 20-50 bags per day depending on our energy," he adds.
To try and seek help, al-Jandal asks his children to work with him. But they, like many other youngsters who live there, are less likely to do the job.
Veins of salt marshes stretch across the region to the north of the al-Shakah salt mine, and have been protected by the Saudi government to allow its citizens to gather the salt.
The salt's quality changes depending on weather conditions. If for example there has been recent rainfall, it can only be good for the salt. The more rain, the purer the salt.
Al-Jandal doesn't just collect and sell the salt, he also looks after the mine, making sure it's clean.
When customers come, he sells his salt there on the spot or transports it to the market.
One of his customers, Mssalam al-Harbi, came out to stock up.
"We buy the salt from Al-Shakah, we mix it with barley to feed the livestock which doesn't go to the pastures. The livestock eats it which makes them not eat their wool. The price of one bag is SR15 ($3.9)," said al-Harbi.
"Now people use salt for their poultry and livestock, salt is useful even in cable constructions, they add salt to protect the cables," explained al-Jandal.
The al-Shakah salt mine is located east of Buraidah, a desert town 350 kilometres north of the capital Riyadh. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
