Qatar: Changed timing for fish market worries traders

25 March 2010
DOHA: Vendors at the central fish market say that they have been hit hard by a change in the timing of the market introduced by the Doha Municipality about a week ago.

The Municipality has banned the sale of fish in the market after 1pm and warned the traders of hefty fines if they fail to abide by the rule. The new regulation comes as part of a plan to reorganise the functioning of the market and improve the quality of fish, a senior official of the Municipality was quoted as saying by a local Arabic daily yesterday.

The official said the market, which had been functioning only during the day hours, will now be open in two shifts -- from 7am to 1pm and from 7pm to 12mn. The traders, however, say the evening shift had not yet been implemented and they had no information about the plan.

"The new timing will help organise the market in a better way, with enough time for the traders to sell the fish. It is not good to continue sales until late in the afternoon, especially during summer, because it can affect the quality of fish," the paper quoted Hamoud Al Shafi, head of markets at the Doha Municipality as saying.

The traders say that with the current timing, they get hardly four hours to sell the fish, affecting their business.

"The actual sales start at about 8am, after the morning auctions are completed. Many customers prefer to come in the afternoon, after their office hours. We are losing these customers due to the new timings. The cleaning will start at around 12 noon and by 1pm all customers would have left the market," a trader said.

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