Govt Will Procure Ways To Steady Fish Rates - Official

28 August 2015 Kuwait

Capital Governor Lieutenant General Thabet Al-Muhanna insisted that officials from Trade Monitoring Department should be present inside the Fish Market at Souq Sharq on a full-time basis in order to reduce the rate of violations that could have adverse effects on the buying and selling activities in that market, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

The governor said this on Wednesday during an inspection visit to the Fish Market at Souq Sharq along with some officials from the governorate to examine the negative effects of the hike in the fish prices, which led to the ‘Let it Spoil’ campaign to boycott purchase of fish.

The campaign was organized by some Kuwaitis with the aim of inspiring many others to take the boycott action for protesting against the skyrocketing prices of fish. Lieutenant General Al-Muhanna listened to the Supervisor of Seaside Market at Al-Mubarakiya Khalid Al-Ghareb as well as food inspectors Anwar Maqames, Ayman Maqames, Ali Al-Fadhli and Abdullah Al-Hamad.They explained the problem in detail based on their individual viewpoints, indicating that the problem started when the fishing boats were not in operation for three months, which led to scarcity of fish in the market.

Market:They said the middlemen in the market influence the buying and selling activities when they play with prices during the bidding process, stressing that the problem is compounded by large purchases made by hotels, restaurants and food manufacturing companies for keep, while some people hawk fish that remain after daily sales to sell in diwaniyas.

At the end of the visit, the governor assured that the concerned authorities will be strict with people who lack conscience and play with the fish prices at the expense of the people of Kuwait. He said the authorities will find a way to regulate the prices based on certain criteria, affirming that he contacted the concerned officials and requested them to curb violations that could lead to future hike in prices.

Meanwhile, Minister of Oil and State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Dr Ali Al-Omair has allowed the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) to allot a specific time period for improving the fish sector in Kuwait, reports Al-Rai daily quoting an informed source. He said the improvement is targeted at mass production of fish to reduce the fish prices for consumers, indicating that the minister held a meeting with the officials of PAAAFR on Tuesday during which they deliberated on how best the fish resources in Kuwait can be diversified and improved.

The source denied the claim that there was an intention to allow issuance of new licenses for fishing vessels made of fiber glass to operate on Kuwaiti territorial waters. He clarified that Decision 26/1985 concerning the types of fishing vessels is still valid in order to protect the reserved fish in the territorial waters against open fishing.

The source revealed that some measures have been suggested for review to ensure low prices of fish and availability of the product in the market, explaining that the measures include the need to relax stringent conditions guiding fish import into the local market. The public bidding should be well organized and the participation should be limited to Kuwaitis only because it is the main reason for the hike in prices. He said, “If non-Kuwaitis or restaurants want to buy fish, they should go to the shops”, adding that suggestions were presented to urge the government to increase transporting of fish from the current 80 locations in Abdali and Wafra farms as well as islands where 306,000 tons of fish worth KD462,000 are produced annual

SOURCE: ARAB TIMES

 
 
: 1822

Comments Post Comment

Leave a Comment