Rat-infested watermelons for sale in Bahrain!

Manama: Now, think twice before buying your favourite fruits and vegetables. Buying them for cheap rates would not be a great idea these days. Of late, rotten tomatoes, rodent-infested watermelons and cauliflowers washed in soap and detergents are for sale at cheap rates on the streets and alleys of Manama.

According to sources, illegal vendors, who sell such items, are flourishing at the Manama Central Market. DT News has received shocking videos of vendors collecting rotten vegetables and fruits from municipal waste bins around the market. 

One video shows a watermelon nibbled by rats is cut in to two pieces to take the ‘better half’ for sale on the streets. Another video shows a man collecting rotten oranges and washing it in the wastewater collected from the air conditioners, which is kept in a hidden area of the central market. 

A third video shows man collecting rotten tomatoes in a thermocol box and leaving the place.  

Normally, the central vegetable market will be busy from early morning till 4pm. In the afternoon, traders throw away damaged and rotten fruits in the dustbins kept in and around central market. Later, illegal street vendors pop up and start collecting the damaged vegetables. 

DT News has learned from reliable sources that many of these vegetables are sold to some restaurants. A good number of vegetables are being sold in the evening at the Manama municipality’s roads, especially in the avenue in Salmaniya. 

According to Social worker Salam Mambbatumoola, who has witnessed expat sellers collecting disposed fruits from dustbins, said: “It has been a big network of illegal business going on here for long time.” “We had earlier complained to the municipal authorities. They had conducted inspection. But there is no enduring solution for this issue.”

“Once the central market shops close in the afternoon, around six or seven expats ransack the dustbins for fruits and vegetables. They even enter the big waste container and collect rotten tomatoes, beans, oranges and cauliflowers. Illegal hawkers collect cauliflowers and put them in a thermocol container. They clean them using washing powder, before selling it on streets,” he elaborated.

“Stringent measures must be implemented to curb the sale of rotten vegetables on the streets,” Salam added.