Cairo: A robot has joined forces with human volunteers in serving iftar fast-breaking meals to people in the Saudi capital Riyadh during the Ramadan.
A footage was shown on TV of the robot moving on a sidewalk while carrying the sunset meals and deliver them to volunteers, who present them to people inside cars, .
The machine appears wearing a vest with a sign on the back reading in Arabic: “Ramadan without [food] waste.”
Saudi Arabia’s General Food Security Authority (GFSA), a government body, has recently launched a campaign to urge the public to reduce food waste during Ramadan when food consumption usually increases.
The drive, titled “With Frugality, It lasts”, aims at raising public awareness about importance of limiting food waste and aspects of extravagance during Ramadan.
GFSA cited findings of a study showing that food waste reaches around 33 per cent with an estimated value of at about SR40 billion per year in Saudi Arabia.
Traditionally, free iftar initiatives are launched in Ramadan in the kingdom, Islam’s birthplace.
More than 11,000 meals were last week served at an iftar hosted by municipal authorities in Al Kharj governorate south east of Riyadh.
The banquet was organised at the King Abdul Aziz Garden stretching for 500 metres with the participation of 170 volunteers, head of Al Kharj municipality Khalid bin Abdullah said.
