DOHA: The government has not included fresh fruits and vegetables in its list of items to be sold at fixed prices during the fasting month of Ramadan which begins today.
But the popular Al Meera Consumer Goods Company, which has a chain of retail outlets across the country, has announced that it is offering 1,250 food and non-food items on discount during Ramadan and they include fruits and vegetables.
Al Meera said that for the first time they were selling fresh dates, which are available at all its branches.
Meanwhile, some vegetables like khoos, cucumber and eggplant became expensive on the eve of Ramadan yesterday. Khoos was available for QR7 a kg in retail, its price having jumped from QR4 in just a day.
Similar was the case with cucumber selling for QR8 a kg in the local market, double the price until a day before. Prices of tomato, potato and onion remained stable.
At the wholesale market, sellers complained that some importers were refusing to reduce the prices of food products despite the Ramadan price freeze order issued by the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) at the Ministry of Economy and Trade. This was particularly true of some famous brands of frozen chicken, they said.
When asked why they did not file complaints with the CPD against the importers, they said that would spoil their long-standing relations with them.
Qataris, the wholesalers said, were coming in large numbers to buy food products, including grains.
“They usually turn up during Ramadan as they buy food items in bulk for festivities at home and to distribute to the needy in charity,” a wholesaler said. The Peninsula
