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Qatar tribune
Santhosh Chandran 
Doha
Fruits and vegetables traders who shifted their operations out of the Al Sailiya Central Market after it closed on March 9 expect to go back soon.
Their optimism is heightened by a process initiated by Aswaq, the Hassad Food subsidiary that manages the market. According to traders, Aswaq has started collecting the details of workers and vendors and is working on preparing photo ID cards for each of them. They said the company was also in the process of assigning separate names to the numbered stalls in the market.
A wholesale dealer, who doesn’t wished to be named, said, “I think all the workers will get a special identity card with photos and each shops will get a separate name. Currently, shops are identified by a specific number provided by the authority.”
Traders expect to get their ID cards before the market reopens.
Spanning over 78,000 square metres, the central market — which is Qatar’s largest wholesale centre for vegetables and fruits — has 102 retail stalls 50 wholesale stalls and 52 stalls selling traditional products such as handicrafts.
The market acts as a platform for thousands of importers, wholesalers and retailers to auction, sell, buy and store imported and locally-grown produce that eventually go to restaurants and homes of people across the country through supermarkets and grocery stores.
As the market was closed more than three months ago as part of the COVID-19 containment measures, most of the vendors temporarily shifted their operations to the Doha and its outskirts as they had long-term contracts with their suppliers both inside and outside the country.

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15/06/2020
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