Authorities sprang into action yesterday to carry out urgent maintenance of 66 air-conditioning units at the Manama Central Market after repeated complaints by traders.
The swift response followed a report in the Press about several vendors and shoppers expressing dissatisfaction with the lack of air-conditioning, periodic maintenance and cleaning, in addition to shortage of parking spaces at Bahrain’s biggest commercial market.
They had called on authorities to come up with a solution to these problems that affect the shopping process in the market, as cited by our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej yesterday.
“The urgent maintenance of 66 air-conditioning units in the Manama Central Market is being done as part of the Capital Municipality’s commitment to ensure comfortable shopping environment for traders and visitors,” said a statement from the municipality’s public relations department yesterday.
“Regular maintenance work in Manama Central Market is one of the priority services of the Capital Municipality which seeks to maintain health and safety standards for the visitors and traders.
“The maintenance contractor has begun the repair work of the central air-conditioners at the market and the units are expected to resume their performance back to normal as soon as possible.”
The municipality detailed that the maintenance was done on 66 Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) units at the market with a capacity ranging from 10 to 35 tons – 44 units distributed in the vegetable and fruit markets and 11 units each in the meat and fish markets.
“The maintenance work is being done by a specialised company which has been appointed and instructions have been given to do the best work to ensure that units work again with high efficiency in this week itself,” added the statement.
“We will also be carrying out our plans to develop and maintain the central market in line with the trading volume of goods and commodities, making sure that the commercial process is carried out smoothly,” it added, noting that the market has 487 commercial units.
The municipality also indicated that it was developing a comprehensive development strategy for the market, in order to make the facility capable to offer best of services to its users. “In co-ordination and co-operation with the relevant authorities the Capital Municipality is in the process of assessing a number of options and is developing several proposals for the overall development of the market,” it said.
“The aim is to achieve the highest possible performance in terms of the services provided by the market to traders, market-goers and visitors alike.”
The GDN reported in the past that faulty air-conditioning at the market was leading to huge losses due to fresh meat being ruined before it even gets sold. Traders had then estimated that they were throwing away more than 30kg of meat every week at the market, especially during summers.
The market which opens at 4am and closes at 3pm, unloads an average of 300 tonnes of fruit and vegetables and nearly half that quantity of meat and fish.
Located off Lulu Avenue in the capital, the facility houses more than 120 fruit and vegetable retailers, 12 local Bahraini produce stalls, more than 50 grocery retailers, a dozen wholesalers and an open area market where trucks offload items.
It also accommodates the fish and meat market with more than 30 stalls in each complex.
raji@gdnmedia.bh
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