Nation's View: The illusions of Al-Mubarakiya market

This condition, cited by the Ministry of Finance as part of the eligibility criteria for securing an investment opportunity in 47 state-owned shops in the Al-Mubarakiya market, reveals that the ministry, which is supposed to act as the economic manager of the administration, has resorted to unprofessional standards that prioritize seniority and tenure over the quality of the proposal, seriousness, or full-time commitment.

Under normal circumstances, when the voices of those with false patriotism and those who claim priority based on seniority are silenced, the Ministry of Finance’s priority should be to transform state assets and lands into sustainable and growing employment opportunities aimed at increasing the contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises to the gross domestic product, thereby generating jobs and improving service quality. Instead, it is granting investment priority to the descendants of many of whom have lost touch with their ancestors’ professions across generations due to their government jobs.

Would it not be better, if we have such nostalgia for the past, to first preserve the traditional character of the Al-Mubarakiya market, rather than allowing it to be filled with makeup shops, fashion boutiques, restaurants, and cafes that are far removed from the market’s spirit, instead of assuming that the trades and activities there are suitable for inheritance across generations?

More urgently, one must ask: How did the Ministry of Finance decide that trades such as handicrafts, herbal medicine shops, nut sales, tailoring, prayer bead shops, and fishing gear stores are professions passed down through generations? Shouldn’t the ministry have focused its criteria on objectives that serve the economy, such as requiring full-time professional management of these shops or excluding non-family members, rather than reinforcing societal illusions?

It is regrettable that the Ministry of Finance—responsible for figures, indicators, ratios, and economic and financial data—has become part of the illusions spreading in society. It is even more regrettable if this narrow-minded view of inheritance, seniority, and the so-called “intergenerational connection” becomes the standard for allocating land and industrial and craft facilities. In that case, it would kill the spirit of initiative, the desire to work, and creativity, replacing them with “old tales and nepotism.”