The office runs nine until one through the month, payments stop at noon, and the council has arranged the extra lighting and water at both mosques.
For the month of Ramadan the council office is open from nine in the morning until one in the afternoon, Sunday to Thursday. The payments counter closes at noon.
The waste round runs earlier rather than later: the crew starts at six instead of half past, on the same three mornings, and should be finished across the whole island before eight.
At the mosques, the council has arranged with the committee for the extra lighting at both buildings, the water tanks to be filled twice a day rather than once, and the mats to be cleaned before the month begins. The night prayer arrangements and the timetable are the committee's and go on the board outside the main mosque, as they do every year.
The hall is not taken for weddings or family bookings during the month, by a decision of the council taken some years ago and left in place. Funerals and anything the mosque committee arranges are unaffected, as always, and somebody from the office remains on call at any hour for a burial.
Two practical notes. The harbour loading hours are unchanged at six in the morning until seven at night, and we would ask boats to avoid the hour before sunset on the harbour road, which is when everybody is carrying food. Rubbish is heavier in this month than in any other: if your household needs a second collection, ring the office rather than putting out four bags on one morning.
The office will publish the hours for the week after the month ends nearer the time. Ordinary hours resume on the first working day after the Eid holidays, and the counter will be busy for that whole week, so anything that can wait a few days is better brought then.
