Doha: About 50 percent of the shops and activities in Villaggio mall are still closed, waiting to complete the maintenance required to meet the safety standards, daily Al Sharq reported.
The full opening of Villaggio’s shops is divided into three phases: the first one has seen the opening of Carrefour, Cinema complex, restaurants, fast foods and several shops in the VIP area. The second phase, which will be starting soon, will see the opening of those shops that right now are under maintenance. In the last phase, the area mainly affected by the fire will get full renovation and open to the public as well.
Half of the shops in Villaggio have not opened yet because they still have to meet the security and safety standards required, and people are waiting to see Villaggio as it was before or even better. Some shops in fact took advantage of the four-month closure of the mall for their renovation.
Shortly after the opening, Villaggio was invaded by a crowd of people curious to go back to the mall. Talking to The Peninsula an employee of a Villaggio shop that has reopened said that the first days were crazy and that this weekend has been crowded as well also because this Thursday and Friday fall within the end of the month, when salaries get paid.
“We have great expectations for Eid at the end of October!,” the employee told The Peninsula, explaining that last year Eid sales were much higher than the sales of the whole month of Ramadan.
Doha: Sudanese Minister of Justice Mohamed Bushara Dossa, left Doha last evening wrapping up a visit of several days to Qatar.
The Minister of Justice H E Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim conferred with his Sudanese counterpart, on ways of strengthening relations between Qatar and Sudan, particularly in legislative and legal areas. The Sudanese minister and his accompanying delegation were seen off at Doha International Airport by a number of senior officials of the Ministry of Justice and Sudan’s Ambassador to Qatar Yasser Khider Khalafallah.
The Peninsula/QNA
