A Pizza Hut branch on Al Khartiyat Road in Umm Salal has been shut down for 15 days for ”preparing food under unsanitary circumstances,” the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP) said on its website.
The Baladiya did not elaborate on what those conditions were, but did post a photo of what looks like a human hair on a piece of fried chicken.
This week, five other restaurants in Al Sadd and the Old Airport areas were also temporarily closed for “preparing food under unsanitary circumstances,” in addition to selling food that had insects, according to a statement issued by the MMUP yesterday on its Facebook page.
The statement added that the restaurants violated law number (8) for the year 1990, regarding regulating human food control.”
The restaurants included Abha in Al Sadd and Chandez in the Old Airport area, which were shut down for seven days. Meanwhile, Mr. Broast BBQ, Lebanese Shawarma and Al Aqsa restaurants in the Old Airport area were closed for 14 days, according to MMUP’s website.
Commenting on the closure, Qatar resident Sayed Hamed questioned on Facebook why the restaurants were closed to such a short time, saying “one week to two weeks is very little, in response to these violations.”
The Baladiya responded to the comment, saying:
“Renewing the duration of closure is left to the discretion of the director of the municipality, according to the law. While noting that the violating facility is not allowed to resume its activities again, except after it fixes the reasons that caused the violation, which is the main objective of enforcing the penalty…thank you for your concern.”
Previous closures
In recent years, the Baladiya has been cracking down on eateries that flout food regulations.
While residents were initially skeptical about whether all restaurants would receive fair treatment, the ministry does seem to be closing all types of food outlets.
Last week for the example, the part of the Orient Pearl, a large four-star rated restaurant on the Corniche, was closed for 14 days after videos were circulated online of stray cats roaming around in the restaurant’s shawarma and fast food kitchen, located outside the main restaurant.
The ministry also permanently closed a restaurant in Musheireb this month and arrested the restaurant manager and staff working there after inspectors found rotting meat and food infested with insects.
Residents who believe they have suffered food poisoning from a restaurant can report their cases to the Supreme Council of Health hotline at 6674 0948 and 6674 0951.
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