AN inspection campaign, aimed at assessing safety and security in shops at the Isa Town Traditional Market, was held by the Southern Municipality as part of an awareness drive.
The campaign, led by the municipality’s Inspection and Control Department and Markets and Property Department, is being carried out in co-operation with the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) and Civil Defence.
It aims to educate shop-owners about the importance of adhering to requirements of safety and security laws in order to avoid any electric short-circuits or fires, especially in the summer, where high temperatures means a heightened risk.
The authorities conducted inspections to ensure all safety and security requirements are being met at the shops.
Electrical wires were examined by the inspectors, who also checked for the presence of fire extinguishers and alarms in all commercial establishments at the market in order to mitigate fire risks.
Shops that have adhered to necessary requirements and procedures have been noted, and legal measures are being taken against violators.
In accordance with established procedures, the municipality also installed fire sensors in violating shops as part of preventative measures to ensure the safety of customers in the future.
The municipality called on all shop-owners to follow the standards set out by the authorities in order to limit violations that threaten the cultural and urban appearance and integrity of the area.
The inspections come following a fire at the Old Manama Suq on June 11, which took 30 hours for Civil Defence personnel to bring under control.
Twenty-five shops were completely gutted and many others were damaged in the blaze, destroying products and stocks that shop-owners prepared in anticipation of the Eid Al Adha season, when they were expecting to make their most sales.
The fire reportedly started at around 4pm in a multi-storey building on Road 432, Block 304 near a number of textile shops.
Three people – one man and two women – died and nine others were injured in the blaze.
The GDN reported previously on a government proposal to bulldoze the popular weekend flea market within the Isa Town Traditional Market complex, with plans to expand the suq to make it more appealing to tourists.
New designs are still being reviewed by concerned government bodies, which are keen to turn the suq into a tourist destination similar to the ones in Manama and Muharraq.
The Isa Town Traditional Market suffered extensive damage in March 2014 when 46 firemen battled for three hours to put out a fire that affected hundreds of shop-owners.
It followed an earlier blaze in July 2012 that similarly wreaked havoc at the suq.
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