New fish market at Umm Slal to open doors to the public on Sunday

Come Sunday and the fish market at the Central Market Complex in Abu Hamour will be relegated to memory.

The new fish market, in the northern Doha township of Umm Slal, will open on Sunday after sunset, according to the permanent committee for managing central markets at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC).

The opening will be followed by an auction for local fish, reported Gulf Times. The new fish market will start receiving customers from 6am and will go on until 10pm, from Saturday to Thursday.

On Fridays, the fish market will function from 6am to 10.30am and from 3pm to 10pm.

While the fish market in Abu Hamour will be shut down, the other markets, for fruits, vegetables and meat will continue to function until new central markets at Al Sailiyah and Al Wakrah are ready.

If one thought everything is perfect at the new fish market, nothing could be farther from the truth. Fish vendors, who were taken on a tour of the new facility, had some huge concerns.

“It’s a new area. In the beginning, we’re expecting some loss in business as it’ll take some time for customers to come to Umm Salal. Most of us have regular customers and we hope they would come to the new facility. Another issue is that the vegetable market in Doha is not being shifted now. Some of the customers drop by the fish market while they go to buy vegetables at the central market at reasonable prices,” a vendor told The Peninsula.

But the vendors tried to stay optimistic.

“The officials transported representatives from each stall to the new market and we were shown the allocated space. The new location is spacious and tidy and has all the facilities needed. We hope it’ll attract more customers and there won’t be any crowding like the ones we see at the Doha fish market,” said a vendor.

The Umm Slal Central Market will conduct fish auctions twice daily. The auction before dawn is for imported fish while the one after sunset will be for locally caught fish.

There will also retail and wholesale stalls to sell vegetables, fruits and meat in addition to a variety of items and products.

There is an air-conditioned auction yard for fish, a fish and seafood restaurant and cafeteria, a centre to distribute ration and subsidised fodder and outlets for wholesale food products, shops for selling coffee, honey and nuts, spices, local bakery and pastry, milk, juice, chilled and frozen poultry, in addition to a plant nursery.

The Umm Slal Central Market also has an automated slaughter house for cattle and livestock with a capacity of 500 carcasses a day. It will function from 5am to 5pm on all days. A veterinary service office will also operate.