Greater Amman Municipality renews halt of new licenses for coffee stores

Director of GAM Vocational Licenses and Advertising Department, Engineer Faleh Al-Shammari said any changes applied on the current licenses would make them annulled. He said that the decision also involves the current licensed stores working under the section of buffet, cafeteria, and presenting refreshments.

Al-Shammari pointed that there are 151 coffee stores licensed in Amman, noting that these stores are being subject to a number of conditions and regulations at the time of license renewal, thus achieving the set goals.

Among these conditions and regulations are the ones affecting the prohibition of setting dais or coffee kettles outside the store, seeing shop workers standing or waving for customers, selling coffee on carts, and double-parking of cars in front of the store.

Other regulations also include keeping the area clean, writing the store's name and the slogan (Keep Your City Tidy) on the plastic cups, installing glass partitions at the store's entrance, and encouraging customers to throw the coffee cups in trash trunks.

Owners of the coffee stores located on the main streets of King Abdullah I, Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, Martyr's Palace, Al-Madina Al-Munawara, Wasfi El-Tel, Zahran, Al-Jaysh, Al-Yarmouk, Al-Quds, Abdullah Ghosheh, Mecca Al-Mukarama, Ad-Dustour, Prince Rashed Bin Al-Hassan, Prince Mohammad, and Omar Matar to submit a JD2000 bank warranty for each store upon renewal of license. Coffee stores located on other streets require a JD1500 judicial warranty each. In case any of these stores violates the regulations, the warranty will be transferred into a bank one estimated at JD2000.

Al-Shammari said that if the violations continue, the warranty will be confiscated, and the license will be cancelled, disallowing the owner's right of compensation. He stressed that GAM's inspectors are conducting day and night inspection tours on all coffee stores to guarantee their compliance with the conditions and regulations.

GAM's decision was taken following the study and field assessment that were conducted by the Municipality's committee which concluded that the coffee stores cause traffic jams, environmental and health pollutions, as well as public nuisance during the day.