While ministries and other state bodies in Kuwait will shut down over the Eid Al-Fitr holiday , Kuwait Municipality's emergency team will be working throughout the vacation period to ensure that violators are unable to use the holiday to exploit the public and that complaints are quickly followed up.

Kuwait Municipality's administrative office yesterday published the hotline numbers which the public will be able to call to report any violations, such as the slaughter of animals outside the abattoir or the erection of advertising hoardings or posters, amongst other offences.

Members of the public wishing to report such incidents can call the following numbers: the main hotline on 1844448 covers all the governorates, whilst those in Hawally can call 18555550 to report violations directly, those in Farwaniya can call 18555551, Jahra residents can call 18555552, Mubarak Al-Kabeer residents can call 18555554 and those in Asima can call 18555555. In Ahmadi, meanwhile, any member of the public wishing to report a violation of municipality regulations can call 18522222. All the hotlines will be open 24 hours a day, even during the holiday period.

Speaking to the Kuwait Times yesterday, Tariq Al-Qattan, the head of the emergency team in Asima, explained that the team is set to intensify its raids and inspections of restaurants, caf�s, bakeries and patisseries, as well cracking down on roaming vendors, especially those selling fruit and vegetables.

During Eid, people mostly buy food, sweets and meals from restaurants, so the work team has to ensure that the restaurants, caf�s, bakeries and other related businesses are following the regulations and providing healthy and safe food," he explained.

The Municipality Director General gives the orders for the emergency teams to conduct the duties of the municipality inspectors during Eid since they [the inspectors] aren't working during this period, so the teams will be working 24 hours," Al-Qattan added. Any customers who have bought foodstuffs unfit for human consumption must provide the receipt to prove their purchase, the official stressed since this is an essential item of evidence to support their complaint.

Dissatisfied customers should register their complaint as soon as possible, preferably the same day, he continued, and should try to bring a sample of the spoilt foodstuffs with them when they visit the municipality office to register their complaint. He also emphasized that any member of the public who has suffered food poisoning from a meal or snack at a restaurant or caf� should provide a medical report detailing their case.

Al-Qattan concluded by emphasizing that the inspectors will deal with all complaints and reports according to the rules and regulations, with the municipality calling on all retailers to respect the law and their customers and refrain from committing violations to benefit both the public and themselves. - kuwaittimes