DOHA: Large numbers of low-income people turned up at Iftar tents across the country on the first day of Ramadan yesterday, leaving several tent organisers embarrassed as meal packets fell short.
At several tents in Doha at least, large crowds descended at Iftar time, leading to chaotic scenes.
One person said he waited for long at a tent in the Old Airport Area but had to leave disappointed as meal packets ran short and he didn’t get any.
Contacted, a senior official of Qatar Charity (QC) said they had increased the number of tents this year considering that the population had gone up.
“We have set up 20 tents this year in different parts of the country,” said Yusuf Al Harami, in-charge of Iftar tents at QC.
He said people should realise that each tent is sponsored by a donor.
And a donor specifies a limit. “For example, some say we can sponsor Iftar meals for 100 people a day. So we have to limit a tent’s capacity,” said Al Harami.
But large numbers of people turn up for Iftar at nearly all tents, not realising that some are big while others have limited capacity.
Some tents have the capacity to serve 500 to 600 people, he said. According to Al Harami, Iftar tents are set up by QC based on areas with large population of low-income workers.
This year, for instance, QC has set up tents in places like Al Jamiliya, Al Dhakhira, Al Shahaniya and Semaisma, among other places.
Two additional tents have been set up and Iftar packets there are being supplied by “productive” Qatari families.
QC has a mobile Iftar tent (in a vehicle) which is distributing meal packets to workers in the Industrial Area.
He said an Iftar meal packet cost QC QR33.5 on average this Ramadan, including the cost of setting up the tent and cleaning.
The Peninsula
