DOHA - As Qatar is all set to celebrate Garangao - the children's festival- this evening, several residents have called for strict monitoring on shops selling Garangao items to ensure that stale nuts and sweets are not being sold.
Major shopping outlets and supermarkets are offering special Garangao kits containing assorted nuts and sweets which are available at reasonable prices. Qatari families, as well as a number of expatriates make it a point to buy these items and keep them in their homes to distribute among children on the Garangao night.
After Iftar this evening, children will come out of their houses and knock at every door, with cotton bags loosely hanging from their necks. Every household as well as offices will receive them with money, nuts and sweets, which will be invested in their bags.
Several clubs and organisations, which have organised Garangao celebrations, also buy the goodies in bulk, leading to a high demand for them.
Several residents feared that there is a high possibility that the shopkeepers would use the occasion to clear the old stocks and stale nuts and sweets could be sold during the festival.
They pointed out that the unusually low prices in the market have strengthened this suspicion. For instance, a pack of nuts which earlier cost up to QR40 are now sold at QR5.
If kept for a long time, some kind of nuts will become oily or too hard to crack. They can also gather dust. They can cause serious health hazards to children, noted a concerned parent.
Meanwhile, commuters have been urged to be cautious, especially while driving in residential areas, not to cause any harm to the kids who will be roaming around the streets this evening.
© The Peninsula 2006
