JEDDAH — The Jeddah municipality claims its inspectors have photographic and video footage of the violations that led to the recent closure of about 100 eateries. Municipality spokesman Mohammed Obaid Al-Baqami said: "The photos and the videos our inspectors took will be used as incriminating evidence in case the owners of the restaurants decide to go to court." The municipality began its crackdown on restaurants about three weeks ago and has closed a number of restaurants including several upscale ones for various violations including unhygienic storage of foodstuffs. A number of owners have threatened to sue the municipality for closing their restaurants and for publicly naming and shaming them. The owners said they would complain against so-called injustices done to them by the municipality at the Makkah Governorate and the Court of Grievances. The spokesman said the municipality is ready to defend itself by providing evidence that clearly refutes the owners' allegations. "We will continue to close down any restaurant that serves rotten food, stores foodstuffs unhygienically, runs business without official license or employs workers with no health certificates," he said. "If anyone believes that these measures are unjust, let him go to the courts," he said. Al-Baqami, however, said the closures were temporary and the restaurants will be allowed to reopen once they have paid the fines and corrected the violations that led to the closures in the first place. He said the municipality will continue its crackdown on all commercial establishments including restaurants, coffee shops, food stores and other facilities with direct impact on public health. "We will not succumb to anyone who tries to stop our inspection campaigns," he added. "The allegation that we are only targeting big restaurants is not true. We are inspecting all food facilities regardless of their size or classification," he said. The spokesman denied that the municipality was naming and shaming owners but said it only announced the nature of the violation and the names of the violators. "This is a normal procedure which is not against the law," he added. Al-Baqami recalled that the municipality had closed down a famous restaurant three times in the past and each time it paid the fine and resumed operations. He said before launching its crackdown, the municipality sought the opinion of its legal department to ascertain that its campaign against violating stores and restaurants was not against the law. "We have about 14 inspection teams that make an average of four monthly inspection tours of restaurants. During the past three days, we have fined a number of well-known restaurants for various violations," he said. Meanwhile, Adel Mekki, chairman of the Hospitality and Restaurants Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said the committee had started consulting a group of lawyers prior to filing a case against the municipality for naming and shaming a number of restaurant owners. "The committee met with a number of owners of closed restaurants and listened to their complaints against the municipality," he said. A number of residents have, however, hailed the municipality's crackdown on violating restaurants and said it was aimed at preserving the public health. "This is a blessed move. A number of the shuttered restaurants cared only about making financial gains and not for the health of their customers," said Abdullah Ali Al-Sharif, a Saudi citizen. Muna Halwani, a Saudi, said she was surprised to know that her favorite restaurant was among those closed for violations. "I have always thought that this expensive restaurant would focus on the health of its customers and would never commit any violation," she said.
