Joint operations team to protect Khareef consumers

Salalah: People who buy goods in Dhofar during the ongoing Khareef season will be able to purchase genuine products, after the Sultanate’s Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP) announced the establishment of a multi-agency team to protect consumers.

Marhoon Al Amri, Director General of Tourism in Dhofar, said: “There is cooperation between the ministry and the PACP and other agencies to form a team supervised by the Public Prosecution, called the ‘Negative Effects’ team (Al Dhawahr Al Salbiyah), which was formed by the office of the Dhofar Governor.”

Al Amri said that the team would pay special attention to “coffee shops, restaurants, entertainment areas, hotels, apartments, and tourism areas with respect to the concerns over the safety of food and the cleanliness of the area, as well as the quality of services offered.”

The ministry and the PACP are also working to monitor every facet of markets in Dhofar, so to make absolutely certain that consumers are not being sold harmful goods and to stop price-gouging, according to a statement by the Public Authority for Consumer Protection.

PACP has also said that it has been intensifying visits in Salalah to make sure that consumers remain safe.

Dr Saeed bin Khamis Al Kaabi, PACP Chairman, visited markets in Salalah and praised the local department’s efforts “in monitoring and observing the markets and controlling those who seek to violate the laws and legislation,” according to a PACP statement.

The statement added that he “stressed the importance of intensifying the inspection campaigns on markets during the Khareef season to monitor prices and ensure their stability, in light of the active movement during this period with regards to the influx of many tourists from inside and outside the Sultanate.”