Sharjah campaign in place for food safety during Ramadan

Sharjah: Sharjah Municipality has announced that it has completed preparations for the fasting month of Ramadan.

A strict vigil has been enforced on the local market in order to ensure that shops and food outlets comply with the highest health and hygiene standards.

The municipality emphasised that preparations are in place to welcome Ramadan, adding that it would step up inspection campaigns on food outlets and shops selling vegetables and meat, in addition to restaurants and cafeterias .

This was to ensure that health, safety and hygiene rules are met at all times.

Arrangements

Sultan Abdullah Al Mualla, Director-General of the municipality, said that arrangements and preparations have been made to ensure that all food products are free from hazardous substances and fit for human consumption.

He added that the municipality would tighten control on ports and airports to examine food shipments.

"As part of an intensified Ramadan programme, surprise inspections will be carried out by food control inspectors on food outlets and restaurants to ensure they abide by health rules and requirements during the fasting month," Al Mualla said.

Monitoring the crescent

The project to monitor the Islamic Crescent expects that some Islamic countries would start Ramadan on August 11. The month of Shaba'an began in most Muslim nations on July 13, therefore these nations would monitor the Ramadan Crescent on August 10.

Engineer Mohammad Showkat Awda, chairman of the project said the moon sighting that day would not be possible, either visually or by using a telescope from all parts of Asia and Europe and most parts of Africa, pointing out that the possibility of sighting the new moon with the telescope will be in South African and central South American countries He noted that the only place from which the moon would be sighted with the naked eye on Tuesday is the south-west of South America.

Since the sighting would be possible on Tuesday from some parts of the world, it is expected that some states would start Ramadan on August 11, while states that require sighting of the moon within their territories, such as Oman, are expected to begin Ramadan on August 12. Awda said the project uses modern technology to sight the Ramadan crescent.