Abu Dhabi says no to samosas on streets

Abu Dhabi — The Abu Dhabi City Municipality (ADM) has come down on illegal street vendors in Al Bateen municipal centre jurisdiction in its efforts to safeguard public health.

“The centre received a complaint that a group of people was selling foodstuff on the street in Bateen area during weekends and that it looked like a big open market on the pavements,” said Engineer Abdullah Al Aseeri, Director of Monitoring and Enforcement at Al Bateen Municipal Centre. “We formed a team to investigate and confiscated various unlicensed foodstuff, including meat and vegetables, street cooked food and cheap illegal bottles of water bottles,” said Al Aseeri.

The crackdown was carried out in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Police, the Department of Economic Development and Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre. ADM had earlier cracked down on food outlets, salons and residential buildings to ensure that nothing was amiss.

The team surveyed the area for two days during the weekends, especially after mid-Friday prayers to find a large number of hawkers on the wide pavement. “We succeeded in clearing the pavement but we could not arrest any of the vendors. We are on the look-out for them,” he added.

Residents in the area said they were shocked to see the hawkers occupying the pavements all of a sudden, some weeks ago.

“We were shocked to see an open market. The entire area pavement would be covered with people selling all kinds of goods on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. I was also shocked to see people slaughtering animals and selling fresh meat without any inspection. But now thanks to Abu Dhabi City Municipality, the area has been cleared from unhygienic vendors,” said Ahmed Bakeith, a local resident.

Hammoud Al Balushi, another resident was also surprised to see the open market. “Come on. How come you slaughter animals and sell meat on the street?” he asked. “These people were selling all kinds of food on the street in our neighbourhood. Making samosas, pakoras and other stuff on the street and selling? I’m happy the local authorities have taken timely action.”

The ADM in a statement said the move reflects the ongoing efforts of the municipal system in Abu Dhabi to maintain the appearance of the city.

“It also echoes the interest of the municipal system on the health and safety of community members by ensuring the highest environmental and health standards relating to trading. It also underlines the need to protect consumers from the risks of materials sold by street vendors,” the municipality said in a statement.

nissar@khaleejtimes.com