With some shopping malls resuming their activities since the beginning of May, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development called on managements of shopping centres and malls in the emirate of Abu Dhabi to comply with the instructions and guidelines aimed at protecting mall visitors and shoppers by ensuring their safety from the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Rashed Abdul Karim Al Balooshi, Undersecretary of ADDED, said that five permits have been granted to re-open shopping centres in Abu Dhabi and that the Department is working with a number of other centres to ensure their full compliance with the guidelines, regulations and instructions for gradual reopening.

He emphasized that the implementation of the decision to re-open shopping centres is aimed at preserving the health and safety of community members and addressing their needs and requirements for commodities from the stores, especially during festive seasons. The strict implementation of these guidelines and instructions is very important and they should be followed without any exceptions. Therefore, violations will not be tolerated, he added.

Al Balooshi called on community members, including visitors and shoppers, to be fully aware of the instructions and guidelines that need to be followed while dealing with shopping centres, especially that their shopping duration should not exceed two hours. In addition, they should wear gloves and face masks throughout the duration of their shopping at the shopping centre and must undergo thermal screening upon their entry.

He highlighted the importance of committing to keeping distance between visitors and avoiding congestion in front of shops and restaurants, which will make it easier for the centre’s managements to manage the re-opening process easily and conveniently to serve all members of society.

Furthermore, Al Balooshi explained that shoppers from the community members must take into consideration that the re-opening times of the shopping centres are from 12 noon until 9 pm in the evening. Therefore they must choose appropriate hours for shopping in a way that does not cause crowding and high demand for the centres at a certain time where shoppers are required in the event of the doors of the centres being crowded to avoid shopping in case the malls are crowded to maintain public health and adhere to the guidelines.

He further stated that the responsibility to adhere to the guidelines and instructions with regard to the reopening of the commercial centres in Abu Dhabi does not solely lie with the shopping centre managements or the inspection teams of the concerned government entities, but it is also the responsibility of shoppers and mall-goers and therefore, they must cooperate and deal with the current situation with caution.

Al Balooshi added that ADDED, in cooperation with its governmental partners, is working to implement the directives of the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) that are aimed at ensuring safety and health of the community. This is achieved by conducting inspection and control visits to ensure the extent of the shopping centre managements’ commitments to implementing the conditions and instructions as well monitoring the shopper’s traffic and their compliance with the instructions., he concluded.

WAM