Dancing leads to closure of Jeddah amusement park

The Jeddah municipality closed down a well-known entertainment center along the city's corniche on Thursday for violations reported by the Kingdom's religious police including maintenance of games and girls dancing in public and dressing inappropriately.
According to reports in local media, the municipality said the center would be closed for one week because it had failed to address the complaints raised by the president of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia). Many of the violations reportedly took place on Tuesdays, which are set aside for women.
Mohammed Al-Buqmi, director of the municipality's media department, said the decision was taken because the facility's management had failed to address the complaints raised by the Haia president.
Haifaa Al-Maliki, general supervisor of game operations at the amusement park, said visitor numbers for Tuesdays equaled those for the entire week.
“Most of the problems on the day for women relate to the behavior and carelessness of some girls, who disregard regulations, wear immodest clothing and dance in public. We try as much as possible to control situations and prevent the entry of those who violate regulations,” she said.
Al-Maliki said she often does not want to escalate conflict situations by contacting the authorities to intervene. “It is not easy for us to report these girls to the authorities because they are sometimes accompanied by their mothers who may be away from them at the time. We instead resort to warning or scaring them. Most of these girls need advice not punishment.”
“There are no female security guards on the day for women, so I supervise the place and the operation of games. There are generally some employees to watch the girls at the entrance and ensure they comply with regulations,” she said.
Al-Maliki said she would be looking to employ Saudi women at the facility. She said there are women with little formal education prepared to work at the center.
There are about 21 non-Saudi women operating the games inside the amusement park.
She said the women operating and running the games are trained well. “We pay special attention to training them on the operation and maintenance of the equipment and how to act if a game is suspended, because the lives of people cannot be handed over to someone who has not been trained well."