Beginning next week, the Al-Ahsa Municipality has banned sale of dates in wooden crates. Dates will now have to be packed in municipality-approved boxes.
Al-Ahsa Gov. Adel Al-Mulhim said the objective of the new measure was to “to make farmers and sellers aware of the importance of having a fixed weight for the local product.”
“It is particularly important to have 30-kg cartons properly designed to preserve the dates,” he said.
Saying that the municipality had taken the step to ensure supply of quality dates in good packaging to meet demand and supply, he pointed out that these were distributed to agents, vegetable stores and market stalls and vehicles involved in the sale of dates in areas such as Hafouf.
In another development, Al-Ahsa municipality officials closed down 29 hair saloons in Mubarraz city and destroyed more than 324 beauty items that were found beyond the expiry period.
Municipal spokesman Badr Al-Shihab said the civic body carried out the campaign in the interest of public health and increased its regulatory role. “The municipality is keen on ensuring that it has controls over public health and bring erring shops in line and to increase public health awareness,” Al-Shihab said, adding that 37 workers have been reported for deportation because of recurring violations of health regulations.
Some of these workers are not fit and some didn’t adhere to health regulations and didn’t wear uniforms, he said, adding that during the second supervisory campaign, the number of shops in violation had decreased and this was a positive indicator of the level of measures being taken to ensure public health among workers.
Qassem Al-Hazoum, head of environmental health at Mubarraz Municipality, said these regulatory campaigns on saloons were aimed at checking the spread of infections and diseases. “The basic aim is to increase awareness about health among workers and to make sure they apply instructions related to haircuts,” he said.
Special boxes a must for Al-Ahsa dates
