Supermarkets and hypermarkets could soon face penalties for shopping trolleys left abandoned on streets, pavements and outside people’s homes by irresponsible customers.
A new proposal submitted in this regard by Southern Municipal Council chairman Abdulla Abdullatif was unanimously approved.
It aims to address the growing eyesore and public nuisance of unattended trolleys scattered across residential and commercial areas.
“Someone has to take responsibility, if not the customers, then the supermarkets and hypermarkets,” said Mr Abdullatif.
“In malls, there are workers collecting trolleys, but outside, you see large quantities left in the middle of the road or on the sidewalks.”
He noted that some shoppers showed little regard to the deposit system, which requires inserting a 100fils coin to release a trolley.
Mr Abdullatif explained that the issue was not just about aesthetic, but also one of public safety and civic order, as stray trolleys obstruct roads, parking lots and pavements.
“It’s a mess that someone has to clean up. If there’s no responsibility or penalty, people will keep doing it,” he stressed.
However, Capital Trustees Board chairman Saleh Tarradah, while agreeing that someone should be held accountable, questioned whether imposing fines on businesses was the right approach.
“Putting all the blame on businesses could encourage even more irresponsibility from individuals,” he said.
The issue of abandoned trolleys has long frustrated residents across Bahrain.
If implemented, the proposed measure could make Bahrain one of the few countries in the region to hold retailers accountable for collecting and managing their trolleys beyond store premises – a move that could reshape public responsibility and commercial practices around everyday shopping behaviour.
In several Australian states, local councils have the authority to fine supermarkets for failing to collect abandoned trolleys. Cities such as Brisbane and Perth run “trolley round-up programmes”, where retailers are given strict deadlines to retrieve carts before they are impounded. Some councils also charge collection fees per trolley, pushing retailers to use electronic wheel locks or GPS tracking to prevent trolleys leaving store premises.
In the UK, local councils can remove and store abandoned trolleys and charge the owners – usually supermarkets – for recovery and administration costs. Major retailers such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s now use automatic wheel-lock systems or barcode-based tracking to limit trolley misuse in public areas.
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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