Malé City Council has revealed that the local market, travelers’ market and fish market will be opened to the public from July 1 onward.

The markets across the Greater Malé Region were closed as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

During the lockdown period, delivery services were provided from the fish market.

Mayor Shifa Mohamed revealed to RaajjeMV that they are preparing to reopen markets after ensuring all the safety and precautionary measures are in place.

As such, social distancing markings have been placed as well as printed instructions on how many consumers will be allowed into the market at once. Further, the council has urged consumers to wear face masks when going inside, and to stay within the markings.

Encouraging daily cleaning programmes in the market slots, Shifa urged slot owners to refrain from storing products on the ground.

Disinfection will be carried out at the markets, at least once a week, said the mayor.

Shifa revealed that services at the fish market will be available from 6am to 6pm. After 6pm, work will begin to clean the fish market, everyday.

Highlighting that they have been receiving a number of complaints regarding fishermen selling products from inside docked vessels, Shifa noted that they will be issuing permits to fishermen who wish to sell their catch and that this opportunity has been opened for anyone who wishes to sell their catch.

Mayor Shifa has also encouraged to prioritize employing locals to the slots, as preparations are under to open the markets under the new normal. Explaining why this needs to be done, Shifa noted that most of the migrant workers are residing illegally in the Maldives and that this makes them harder to track.

This comes at a time one of the largest Covid-19 clusters were discovered in the market region, out of which most of the positive cases were of expatriates.