DOHA: Built with much fanfare by the government, Al Furjan Markets that cater to residents of remote areas have no public toilet facilities.
And the employees of some outlets in these markets, like bakeries and restaurants, are outraged that they have been asked by the civic ministry to remove staff toilets from their premises.
All shops in Al Furjan Markets have staff toilets although the market as a whole has no public toilet facilities, reports Al Sharq.
But lately, the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning has asked the bakery shops and restaurants, among other outlets, in these markets to remove staff toilets or they wouldn’t be given the license to operate.
“Where do we go to ease ourselves,” Al Sharq quoted some employees of the bakery shops and eateries in these markets as saying.
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce has built Al Furjan Markets in some 44 remote locations of the country and they together have 645 shops of different types.
The idea behind Al Furjan markets is to help residents of remote areas access items of daily need in their vicinity and not rush to Doha for every need of theirs.
The shops were allotted to small companies owned by Qataris through an online raffle and monthly rent of the shops is QR6, 000 ($1,648) each.
Many outraged staff members of bakery shops and restaurants in these shopping complexes said that they would have used common public toilets but the markets have no such facility.
They said there are mosques nearby so people could use the toilets therein but the mosques are closed to public after prayers.
One person said that lack of coordination among various authorities was responsible for the absence of basic facilities like public toilets.
The Peninsula
