Ibrahim Alawi and Ahmed Al-Sulami Okaz/Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — After the temporary closure of at least 110 violating restaurants in Jeddah over the past few days, the municipality has now focused its attention on hotel eateries. “We will send our inspection teams to check each and every hotel restaurant and we will immediately close down the violating ones,” said the municipality's spokesman Mohammed Al-Baqami. The municipality last week closed down the restaurant of a hotel in Al-Rawdah district for a number of violations, including failure to renew its license, not covering the garbage bins and not storing ingredients properly. Jeddah Mayor Hani Aburas said supervisors of the municipality would close down any eatery or shop that does not show its price list clearly to customers. He said: “During the coming few days our supervisors will intensify their campaign against violating eateries and commercial shops. “Any shop that does not display its prices clearly at its entrance will be closed down immediately.” Aburas also warned that any shop owner who obstructs the work of the inspectors would be penalized. Al-Baqami reiterated the municipality would continue its inspection campaign regardless of the objections of restaurant owners. “Our job is to protect public health,” he said. Al-Baqami said even five-star hotels in the city would not be spared. “We are determined to make sure that food served to residents and visitors is healthy and hygienic,” he added. A number of restaurant owners have threatened to sue the municipality at the Court of Grievances for closing down their businesses and shaming them. The municipality, in response, said it was ready to defend itself by providing evidence, including photographs and video footage. Al-Baqami said: "The photos and the videos our inspectors took are incriminating evidence." The municipality began its crackdown on restaurants about four weeks ago and has closed a number of restaurants, including several upscale ones for various violations. "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," Al-Baqami 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 inspection campaign covers 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 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 the municipality was naming and shaming the owners. He said it only announced the nature of the violations and documented the names of the violators, which is normal procedure.
