Ras Al Khaimah: Inspectors of the Department of Economic Development seized huge quantities of school materials on Tuesday featuring images of couples hugging and kissing.
A senior official at the department said materials seized included books, notebooks, drawing books, CD holders, wallets and other school items. The official added that the inspectors searched a shop that sold items for 'Dh1 and Dh2' based in Ras Al Khaimah after they received scores of complaints from families in the emirate.
The official explained that families are currently getting ready for the scholastic year and buying stationery for their children. The shop took the opportunity and displayed huge quantities of unacceptable products needed for school children.
Hundreds of families visited the shop which sells cheap products, but parents were shocked to see indecent images on some of the products. The official said that the pictures displayed couples hugging and kissing and many parents complained to the department.
The official said the shop violated a code of conduct and decency adopted in the emirate, where the department's top officials instructed inspectors to investigate complaints and to report back.
Genuine complaints
Following an inspection campaign, the inspectors concluded and reported that the complaints of the families were genuine, and they seized huge quantities of the displayed products in the stores.
The owner of the shop pleaded that these products have entered the country in a legal way and that he presented all the documents showing the official approvals for that, but the inspectors did not pay any attention to that. The department official said that this was the second similar violation for this particular shop, and the department imposed a heavy fine on it, but the official declined to mention the sum of the fine.
Warning letter
The department issued the shop an official warning letter stating that the shop will be permanently shut down should the same violation be repeated in the future. The owner of the shop signed the warning and pledged not to repeat this violation.
The department official said that products on display for the school children this season will be carefully monitored to ensure that whatever comes in the hands of the school children was safe. He stressed that pictures printed on the seized products would negatively affect the school children and that the emirate's authorities would never allow it.
By Nasouh Nazzal, Staff Reporter