Municipality shuts down 85 food outlets in Industrial Area
In the latest inspection drive, municipal officials shut down around 85 food outlets in the Industrial Area yesterday.
The erring outlets included several illegal kiosks selling tea, coffee, soft drinks, sandwiches and other snacks.
During raids on labour camps, kitchens preparing large amount of food, eateries and makeshift shops selling meat, fish and vegetables were discovered by civic inspectors.
These unlicensed facilities were secretly being run from rooms in labour camps in the congested Industrial Area.
The facilities were closed down by inspectors from Doha Municipality and fines slapped on operators, all of whom were low-income workers.
"None of the violators was referred to Public Prosecution for legal action, for they were simple workers," Mohamed Al Sayed, head of food monitoring unit at the Doha Municipality, told english daily The Peninsula.
Al Sayed said that despite such violations being found in large numbers in the Industrial Area, no cases of food poisoning have been reported.
Other areas have seen such cases. Many erring outlets in the Industrial Area were yesterday found not complying with civic health and safety rules while others were operating without licence, said Ali Mohamed Sheikhani.
The head of health affairs unit of Doha Municipality in the Industrial Area, Sheikhani said that yesterday's inspection campaign was the fourth in a series that was launched in mid-2013.
In the second phase of the inspection drive launched in December 2013, some 175 erring outlets were closed down, including for operating illegally.
In phase three in early 2014, some 132 illegal outlets were given the licence after complying with health and safety rules.
Since the inspection campaign was launched in 2013, a total of 155 illegal outlets have been given licences. Sheikhani said that workers in the Industrial Area were unable to report violations to authorities because they found it hard to communicate.
The Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning has a toll-free number (44266666) on which complaints and observations can be made.
The official said that earlier illegal food outlets were operating in garages and now they had shifted to labour camps.
Contacted for comment on the situation in the Industrial Area, some CMC members said such violations kept repeating.
"We must look for a permanent solution," Mubarak Fraish told this newspaper. He said the Industrial Area was originally not meant to house labour camps but presently it has a lot of them.
Some companies that have their labour camps in the Industrial Area illegally operate kitchens to feed their workers, he added.
The solution is to shift labour lodgings to other areas, Fraish said. The CMC has been demanding a separate municipality for the Industrial Area.
In this context, one of its members, Mohamed Saleh Al Khayarin, said: "We don't know why there is a delay in implementing our recommendations. Maybe there are some technical problems". [The Peninsula]
The camels and horses getting good feeds everyday. But those, the ones who build the country is getting nothing in return..!!
The laborers were doing it as a sideline because they are not being paid properly. Maybe the authorities should have been more understanding on the fines because there was no reported food poisoning anyway.