RIYADH: The Riyadh Municipality clamped down on a commercial center in the capital for want of license and due to several irregularities.

Abdullah Al-Tayyar, head of the Rawdah municipality in the Riyadh region, said the management of the commercial center not only did not have the required license but also there were several irregularities in running restaurants and outdoor cafes inside the mall. The management of the mall has not complied with the Civil Defense requirements too, he added.

The municipality has given a set of guidelines to restaurants and eateries to maintain healthy environment and provide consumers with foods prepared in a hygienic environment.

He said the municipality will allow the management to re-open the mall provided it takes remedial measures and bring it back to the standards laid out by the municipality.

Early this month, officers of the municipality shut down six shops and removed food items from more than 40 others which were selling items such as tea, corn, and other uncovered food stuffs. The sites were in violation of regulations and standards of hygiene. Some were operating without permits or selling spoiled meat.

The municipality organized campaigns in which inspectors in all specialties participated. The campaigns covered facilities linked with public health issues and those operating under regulated permits.

Al-Tayyar said the inspection campaign were intensive and would continue in the Al-Thumama region because of large numbers of picnickers who frequent the area. “The aim is to closely inspect the quality of food stuffs offered to people and to compel the shops to comply with the public health hygiene standards,” he explained.

He said there had been 19 visits during which the inspection teams issued 18 citations, closed down six shops, recorded 68 violations, and suspended 47 workers.

In addition, he said, about 58 kg of unhygienic food stuffs and 30 home appliances not fit for use were confiscated.

In a related matter, inspection teams in the Madinah Secretariat have discovered shops in the Aarwa neighborhood operated by a group of Asians selling chicken, meat and other food stuffs from unknown sources.

The undersecretary for sub-municipalities and suburbs, Hamza bin Jaafar Sabieh, said the inspection teams became suspicious of one particular house and when it was searched, it was found to be a storage place for chicken, fish and meat from unknown sources.