DOHA: Doha Municipality has said it will keep an eye on the Central livestock market to single out illegal porters who carry customers’ animals for sacrifice.
Many of these porters are runaway workers who descend on the market en masse to take undue advantage of Eid Al Adha rush to sacrifice animals and exploit people to make a quick buck.
They sometimes demand up to QR100 to carry a sheep to the slaughter house for sacrifice while the official porter charges are quite low.
During Eid Al Adha last year, illegal porters literally had a field day so this year Doha Municipality will mount vigil on the market.
Last evening, though, despite huge rush at the Central market to buy sheep and goats for sacrifice, no illegal porter was sighted.
There were porters of Widam (Qatar Meat and Livestock Company formerly known as Mawashi) seen in their official uniform carrying animals for customers. Widam has put enough porters this time but a tent for people to wait in shaded area for their turn to get animals slaughtered for sacrifice was not erected until yesterday evening.
There are four slaughter houses at the Central Market while one each in Al Shamal, Al Khor, Al Rayyan and Umm Salal.
The Ministry of Environment has warned people strictly that they must get animals slaughtered for Eid sacrifice only at the abattoirs. A portable veterinary clinic has been set up at the Central market to check animals before slaughter and their meat after slaughter to make sure they are bacteria-free and fit for human consumption.
The Ministry has asked people, both citizens and expatriates, to make sure that abattoirs issue fitness certifications for the animals and their meat.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior has lined up entertainment events, including musical shows, drama and cinema, for large Asian expat communities on the first three days of Eid Al Adha.
The idea is to interact with these communities and strengthen partnership with them and raise awareness among them about Qatari laws, customs and traditions. Booklets and pamphlets on Qatari laws and traffic rules are distributed to these communities to raise awareness.
The Interior Ministry’s public relations department holds these programmes for expat communities. These events will be held from 5pm until 11pm on the first three days of Eid Al Adha beginning today in places like the Industrial Area, Al Khor, Al Wakra stadium hall, MES Indian School, and Sri Lankan School.
These communities have their own orchestra groups and bands. The traffic department has said it will deploy patrols at busy places during Eid Al Adha holidays to ensure smooth flow of traffic and safety and security.
The Peninsula
