More produce will be brought in at the new vegetable and fruit market to meet the demand during Ramadan, vendors said.
Despite a lack of customers for months, the vendors said they will continue filling the market with fruits and vegetables even after Ramadan. More produce, they said, will boost sales and help the market recover from the 18 month slowdown in business.
The market was only busy for the three months after it opened, vendors said. Business then started to trail off because fewer customers were visiting the market. More than 20 shops are now closed and another 14 have been abandoned.
Refrigerated trucks were scheduled to unload huge amounts of fruit and vegetables at the market yesterday.
"We want to boost our sales during Ramadan," one vendor said. "It will give us a second chance to bring back our customers. We need to revamp the market through a number of demands we suggested to the authorities. None of them have been met so far. We are now trying to solve the problem unilaterally."
Officials at the municipality were not available for comment.
The incomplete infrastructure at the new market and the fact that not all the vendors from the old market have been brought to the new one are blamed for the dearth of customers, vendors said.
"We intend to bring in a number of refrigerator trucks to our shops here one day before Ramadan," Mohammad Nazeer, a vendor, said. "We expect the business at the market to improve during Ramadan.
"We will also continue to stock large quantities of produce after Ramadan to try and sustain sales throughout the year."
Vendors, he said, are not confident business at the market will ever pick up. Customers also need to be assured that vegetables and fruits are continuously available at the new market so they come regularly, he said.
"The facilities in the market compound are incomplete," M. Babu, another vendor, said. "There are no cafeterias, toilets and no mosque. People find it difficult when shopping. They often ask us about such facilities."
Akram Mansour, a vendor who occasionally brings produce to his shop, criticised authorities for choosing a bad location for the new market. He also said all the vendors at the old market should be brought to the new market.
"I can't keep bringing vegetables and fruits when I am short of customers. The access to the market is very difficult at peak hours because traffic is heavy. Customers from close residential areas prefer to buy from supermarkets and cooperatives than face the traffic here.
"If authorities want to boost sales at the new market, they should shift the old market to the new market."
Mansour will bring a couple of refrigerated trucks each week to replenish his shop during Ramadan.
Customers said they prefer to shop at the old market despite the cheaper rates at the new one.
Afsar Ahmad, a customer, said: "I bought some vegetables but can't find a taxi. I can get vegetables and fruits for the same price at a supermarket next to my building. I usually buy from the old market, where I can get hold of a taxi."
UAE national Hussain Al Shehi said: "I bought vegetables and fruits, but can't buy meat. I have to travel to the old market to buy it. Though prices are a bit cheaper here, I prefer to go to the old market. I can get all I need in one place."
"We intend to bring in a number of refrigerator trucks to our shops here for Ramadan. We expect the business at the market to improve during the month.
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