Al Sailiya Central Market likely to reopen on July 1

“Refrigeration is a key part of our business and it is not available for retailers or wholesalers at the central market,” he added.Although the Al Sailiya Central Market has cold-storage facilities, they are primarily meant for products that are meant to be auctioned off of the premises. Wholesalers generally do not have access to cold storage. Also, according to vendors, the auction is unlikely to return to the market as it reopens, at least not in the beginning.Spanning over 78,000 square metres, the central market — which is Qatar’s largest wholesale centre for vegetables and fruits — has 102 retail stalls 50 wholesale stalls and 52 stalls selling traditional products such as handicrafts.The market closed more than three months ago as part of the COVID-19 containment measures, pushing vendors to temporarily shift their operations to Doha and it outskirts, which local farmers said had affected their sales. A senior employee at the Al Khor Farm said, “The closure of the market had forced us to delay our harvest, which in turn led to some crop damage. For us, the central market is a key place to exhaust our harvests and we were eagerly waiting for it to reopen.”