Sales department officials have stated that, as of today, they will operate their subsidiaries, 24 hours a day, to meet the needs of consumers and increase the demand for ports under the current circumstances, noting that the decision to allow the ports to work around the clock will reduce the severity of congestion on the ports Over the coming days.

Yesterday morning, the Ministry of Health and Community Protection and the National Emergency and Crisis Authority announced that food outlets from cooperative societies, groceries and supermarket outlets were allowed to operate 24 hours a day.

In turn, the Ministry of Economy confirmed that the decision to allow food outlets to operate 24 hours a day, aims to facilitate consumers and reduce congestion in the outlets.

10 outlets

In detail, the director of the Marketing and Happiness Department at the "Union Cooperative", Suhail Al Bastaki, said that "the Cooperative Department decided to operate 10 additional outlets for it by working 24 hours a day, starting today, to keep pace with the needs of consumers, and to meet the decisions to allow the field to work around the clock." He pointed out that «according to the new operating decisions, the total number of cooperative outlets that operate around the clock in Dubai will reach 13 outlets».

He added that «the cooperative is committed during the work in its outlets by placing signs on the ground inside the outlets, and near the accounting funds, within the framework of the principle of (social spacing), which provides about two meters between consumers, while also committed to applying the decisions of the Ministry of Health and the National Emergency and Crisis Authority, finally to take into account The shoppers ’percentage should not exceed 30% of the total capacity of each outlet, calling“ the need to increase consumer awareness in cooperation with the sales department’s departments, and to respond to safety instructions by preventing the entry of a large number of consumers beyond the specified percentages according to preventive measures. ”

sale points

In turn, the director of purchases and operations at the Emirates Cooperative Society, Walid Al-Maghrabi, said that, “In light of the decision to allow 24-hour sales outlets to meet the needs of consumers during the current period, the association decided to operate a large branch in the Al-Tawar area in Dubai around the clock, And that starts today. ”

He added that «the administration of the association put marks on the ground according to the principle of (social separation) to maintain a safe distance of about two meters between each consumer and another, within the framework of precautionary measures in the face of the spread of the new Corona virus», pointing out that «the administration of the association is also studying possible ways and steps about Preventive measures to make the number of shoppers at the outlet not exceed 30% of the outlet's capacity.

He pointed out that "allowing the outlets to operate their branches around the clock contributes to reducing congestion on the outlets, while giving shoppers a greater period of time to buy their supplies at any time, and not to need to line up at the accounting funds at any time."

work time

For his part, Affan Al-Khoury, the executive director of “Markets for Retail” centers pointed out that “(Markets) currently has four outlets in different regions in Dubai, most notably Al-Raqqa and Greens, while studying the possibility of extending the work of additional branches in a 24-hour system According to the demand operations in the different regions where there are branches (markets) in Dubai ».

He pointed out that «(markets) implement the measures of (social spacing) by marking the lands of each outlet, to provide a distance of two meters between each consumer, in addition to the procedures for placing sterilization devices and gloves for hands in each outlet, and will increase the awareness of consumers in the face of the spread of the Corona virus across Various procedures, the most prominent of which is the development of publications and instructions at the outlets stating that families should not be accompanied, especially the elderly and children when shopping ».

For his part, Rashid Bin Howiden, Director of Supply and Merchandise Promotion in the "Sharjah Cooperative" said, "After monitoring the growing demand for sales outlets, the Cooperative Department has transferred four outlets to it in a 24-hour working system about seven days ago, concentrated in areas Khor Fakkan, Dibba Al-Hisn, the central region, and the city of Sharjah, bringing the total number of outlets that operate 24 hours within the cooperative currently to 10 branches ».

He added that «the cooperative implements social spacing systems with a distance of two meters between consumers, and provides precautionary safety measures, such as providing sterilizers for hands to consumers, in addition to educating consumers, limiting the presence of a large number inside the outlets, and examining ways to implement decisions not to exceed 30% for shoppers of absorptive capacity For outlets, ”pointing out that" providing 24-hour work on an extensive scale in the marketplace would significantly reduce overcrowding and congestion on accounting funds in general at retail outlets. "

For its part, the Abu Dhabi Cooperative Society announced that 20 of its branches in various emirates of the country will work for 24 hours from today, in order to reduce congestion, and to facilitate consumers to obtain their needs easily and conveniently.

She pointed out that she has the mechanisms that enable her to adhere to not increase the capacity of consumers in the outlets by 30%, and provide a safe distance, especially while allowing work for 24 hours.

"The outlet is still studying the open 24 hours, which depends on the number of consumers, and if there is an urgent need for that, and the availability of employment," said Abdul Qadir Mohammed, an official at one of the medium-sized outlets in Abu Dhabi.

In turn, the director of the Consumer Protection Department at the Ministry of Economy, Dr. Hashem Al-Nuaimi, said, “The decision to allow food outlets, including cooperative societies, groceries, and supermarkets, to operate 24 hours, taking into account that the shoppers’ percentage does not exceed 30% of the capacity, and governorate On the safe distance between each shopper and another, it aims to facilitate consumers, reduce congestion in the outlets, and check the spacing between consumers sufficient distance, in order to preserve their health and safety.

He explained that the decision is optional and not compulsory for the outlets that want to sell for 24 hours, pointing out that the conditions are normal and reassuring, and the goods are available, and there is no justification for extreme crowding.

Reducing hustle

The head of the consumer cooperative federation, Majid Rahma Al Shamsi, said that “the union” urges the associations that need to open their branches 24 hours to reduce the great congestion, to take this step quickly, adding that opening the associations 24 hours helps reduce congestion and facilitate shopping operations on Consumers, and commitment to diverging them.

Al Shamsi explained that it is up to the associations themselves, as they decide this according to the circumstances of the sale and the number of consumers, noting that there are some branches of the associations that are not crowded, and therefore they do not need to take this step.

- Do not exceed the capacity of consumers in the outlets by 30%.