ABU DHABI // In a crackdown on salons, laundries and cafes, the municipality fined 113 outlets and warned 74 shops for not adhering to hygiene and safety standards.
The municipality says there are 1,200 salons in the Abu Dhabi area, including Baniyas, Shahama and Al Wathba, with more than 50,000 employees.
Kahlifa Al Rumaithi, director of public health at the municipality, said: "The inspection campaign of hair-cutting salons focused on verifying employees' compliance with the white dress code during their working hours, and ensuring that they operate the sterilisation equipment and use the sterilisation liquid.
"The campaign on laundries focused on irregularities of putting clothes on the floor and using concrete basins and hand-washing sinks for laundry," he said, "which is a flagrant breach of regulations and health conditions."
From January to May, six laser and skin machines were seized. In 2011, 40 were confiscated and more than 100 were found in 2009. Most were in women's salons.
No salons have been closed this year. Two were shuttered in 2011 and 42 were fined.
Mr Al Rumaithi said coffee shops, cafes and other outdoor facilities must be kept back from neighbourhoods, allowing a distance of at least 30 metres from residential areas.
