Muscat: Muscat Municipality has confirmed in a circular that all wholesale trading activities of the Fruits and Vegetable Market (SILAL) will commence at Khazaen Economic City on June 29, and the shops at Al Mawaleh Market will be permanently closed.
The Municipality circular has listed a timeline in which it said that on May 5, the units for restaurants, cafes, sorting warehouses, dry stores, and commercial shops at Khazaen will be handed over to the tenants to complete the necessary technical preparations for the operation.
The circular added that it will be prohibited to engage in any storage and wholesale activity in Al Mawalch Central Market after June 29, 2024.
on June 9, the units for the wholesale market cold store, central cold storage, onion shed, potato shed, and administrative offices will be handed over to the tenants.
The operation of the One-Stop Inspection Platform will commence on June 22, where all customs inspection and agricultural quarantine activities will be transferred from Al Mawaleh Market to the SILAL Market at Khazaen Economic City.
The circular added that the lessees of the cold stores (wholesale market building/central cold storage) will receive an additional reduction in rental value for the first contract year, along with an extended exemption period from rent, provided the contract is signed before May 20.
All companies leasing various commercial units at the SILAL Market are requested to provide a copy of the labour cards of all employees and workers under the sponsorship of the lessee company in preparation for issuing identification cards to them and a copy of the ownership documents of the trucks belonging to the category of three tonnes and above.
The current lease contracts in Al Mawaleh Central Market will be extended until June 29 for two months (May and June), and the lessees are required to fulfill all associated obligations no later than two weeks from the date of issuing this circular.
Speaking to the Observer, an executive of Suhool al Fahya, one of the leading wholesalers, said that the transfer process has not started yet as work at SILAL Market at Khazaen Economic City is in the final stages
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Earlier, while accepting the reality of having to shift from Mawelah, some merchants at the market said, "While they have been operating in harmony since 1997, but time has come to move to the new location to meet the growing footfall of customers and changing requirements such as more cold storage and air-conditioned halls for retailers and customers from various parts of the country.
Hamed Saeed Salem al Hajari, manager of the Central Market, said, "The current market has been growing every year with more facilities and we have products from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Egypt, and not to forget the growing presence of Omani agricultural produce."
He added, "The market has been growing, and shifting to new places such as Khazaen Economic City will help it expand with better facilities. No date has been set for relocation, but it will be happening as announced this year."
A few customers commented that moving the market to 50 km away from the current location will be a bit difficult for some customers, but it won't be a problem for those residing in places like Bausher, Seeb, and Muscat Heights.
Abdul Vahid, managing director, Suhool al Fayha, one of the leading wholesalers at the market, said, "The market opened in 1987 but closed soon after to reopen in 1997 and was operational full-fledged by 2000. Initially, 90 percent of the products were imported via neighboring countries, but today 90 percent of our products are directly imported from different countries with around 400 export-importers operating at the market."
He added, "This market has nostalgic importance for all merchants and we won't operating here next year. Muscat Municipality played a big role in developing this market but keeping in mind the traffic congestion in the area, the decision was taken to relocate the market to around 60km from the current home."
Suhool al Fayha itself is investing around RO2 million in the new market area and around RO10 million in the economic city.
According to sources, the new market will have facilities such as cold and dry stores, main wholesale halls, truck sales area, shaded areas for sorting and sale of onions and potatoes, agricultural inspection areas, office spaces for operating companies, forklifts servicing, electrical charging stations, vegetables, and fruit sorting yards, several gates for customs inspection for Vegetables and Fruit, laboratory for testing agricultural samples under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources.
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