Hundreds of small groceries in Abu Dhabi have started emptying their shelves to shut down in the next few days after failing to abide by new government rules within plans to upgrade services as part of the emirate’s long-term development strategy.
The Food Control Authority (FCA), which oversees activity involving foodstuffs and related businesses, has given more than 1,300 small shops one year until the end of 2012 to adjust to the new hygienic and aesthetic regulations or they will face closure.
But most of the small groceries appear to have failed to make these adjustments given as they could cost more than Dh100,000.
More than 90 per cent of the affected shops are owned by Indians and other Asian expatriates, who began streaming into the UAE and nearby Gulf countries after the discovery of oil nearly half a century ago.
“We are closing this shop this week…we have been here for more than 20 years but we cannot afford paying for such adjustments,” said Ali Abdullah, an Indian grocer whose shop on Defence Road is now nearly empty.
“Many of my colleagues have already shut down their shops for the same reason…I think that most of these small shops will be off the market within a few days.”
The new rules will focus on hygienic and aesthetic prospects for all groceries and are also intended to organize small retail food trading in the emirate, one of the world’s wealthiest and largest oil and gas producers.
In remarks published by the semi official daily Alittihad, Mohammed Al Riyasa, communications director at FCA, said the new system is part of Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030, a landmark development strategy designed to expand the emirate’s infrastructure and services, diversify its oil-reliant economy and attract capital.
“We will not grant licence to new groceries unless they meet these standards, which will also improve the image of the areas where shops are based and benefit both the shop owners and consumers,” he said.
The new rules involve improvement of the external appearance of groceries, abiding by new strict hygienic regulations, expanding the shop’s internal space to allow for better movement of customers, and applying specific regulations for home delivery.
Official figures showed Abu Dhabi’s nearly 1.5 million residents spent over Dh3.5 billion on food and beverage as well as other consumer items in 2011 and almost a third of the funds were spent on purchases from small groceries.
Abu Dhabi, which controls nearly 92 billion barrels of oil and 6.5 trillion cubic metres of natural gas, has one of the world’s highest GDP per capital incomes. It was estimated at more than Dh300,000 in 2011.
Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
