MoSA starts monitoring co-ops over ‘barcodes’
‘Refer violators to Council of Ministers’
KUWAIT CITY, Aug 5: The Ministry of Social Affairs has started monitoring cooperative societies to ensure the latter’s commitment to the automated reservation system for shopping as a number of cooperatives were found to have failed to abide by this regulation, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting sources.
Photo inside the Sharq Fish Market.
Sources revealed that in reaction to what the daily published on July 24 entitled: “The Cooperative Societies Barcode is Just a Decoration,” Undersecretary of the ministry Abdulaziz Shuaib issued circulars. He stressed to the Union of Consumer Cooperative Societies that the code should be adhered to in order to avoid legal problems. locations, and from our experience, it is clear that there is no mead except in Joun Kuwait (Kuwait Bay).
“We do not blame the fishermen, because they lack access to the right locations, and we have already spoken in several meetings and in statements. We’ve forwarded official letters to competent authorities to explain that mead fish is found in shallow waters and along the coasts, indicating it exists in abundance in Joun Kuwait, a region where fishing is prohibited according to the Amiri Decree 46/1980 and Environmental Law 2014/42.
He added, “mead fish lives in swarms off the sea and at the end of their cycle, they move out in the cold season, so in the middle of October, we’re unable to benefit from them. People do not ask where mead fish are and why they are not available in the market.”
As for the mead sold outside the market with a basket worth 45 dinars, Al-Souyan confirmed that “this is not the responsibility of the union”, while Al-Rai news did not talk about the responsibility of the union but the fishermen rather.
“Who can guarantee that mead is the catch of professional fishermen and not the catch of any amateur?”, he asked, stressing that “black market is caused by lack of approval of the union’s requests to tighten control and regulation of the fishing sector, especially as the fishermen union since establishment catches for the local market.
He said “all the union catches in a day go down to auction according to the controls of the regulatory authorities, and decisions of the Ministry of Commerce and regulatory authorities.”
He added, “We are against black market and against selling outside the market, urging authorities concerned with the fishing sector to cooperate with the Fishermen Union in support of local produce, because ignoring the local produce and not supporting it adequately will contribute to its elimination, even though it’s the true indicator of price stability, in the evident circumstances the whole world is going through due to the corona pandemic.”
He referred to the many problems fishermen face and the limited supply of local fish, attributing it to “non-compliance with the periods of seasonal bans by some neighboring countries for zubaidi and shrimp, while we allow them to enter here as imported fish in the period of the fishing ban.” Sources said Shuaib instructed the Cooperative Sector to start inspecting the cooperatives, monitor their violations, and refer violators to the Council of Ministers to take the necessary measures as they violated the latter’s decisions and measures to curb the spread of novel coronavirus.
Adhering
He stressed that “those adhering to the fishing ban periods are Kuwaiti fishermen only, and as a result, we find a few fish with difficulty at the beginning of the fishing season every year after the ban has been lifted. We hope we will not face the same problem in the opening of the shrimp fishing season early August”.
He pointed out that “imported fish come from many countries in tons, but there is a difference between imported fish and local fish - both in quality and taste”, stressing that “fresh fish is undoubtedly the best and Kuwaiti consumers prefer local fish.
However, zubaidi fishing for this year is not in abundant quantities for several reasons; chief among them the absence of more than 75 percent of fishermen outside the country due to what the world is going through with the corona pandemic due to stoppage of flights.
God willing, the flights will resume at the beginning of August and we hope that all fishermen will return to Kuwait to operate the entire Kuwaiti fishing fleet to cover the great demand for shrimp and local fish in the market to ensure price stability.”
In a statement, Al-Souyan touched on selling shrimp outside the market, stressing that fishing is prohibited until the end of July. He urged the public not to blame fishermen, saying they should rather submit complaints in the event of evidence. He stressed that “the fishermen apply laws and preserve marine wealth to the latter, and guard against unregulated fishing.”
He referred to “the excesses of some of neighboring countries’ fishermen daring to enter the territorial waters to fish and depleting the bounties of Kuwait, then selling it to us as an importer. This is what happened recently when 30 Iranian vessels were caught fishing in our regional waters”, stressing that “extending the hand of cooperation to the Union of Fishermen would help regulate the fishing sector to eliminate many abuses ... We are with the regulation of fishing sector that protects our marine wealth and preserves the Kuwaiti sea.”
He pointed out that “the decision to establish Sharq Market was for local fish only, while imported fish came only as an addition, and since their entry on Sept 6, 2017, they do not want to go to their dedicated and permanent market”.
He declared that the presence of imported fish in Sharq Market caused many abuses such as mixing, commercial fraud and lack of adherence to the decision of the Ministry of Commerce to cut a portion of some imported fish to separate it from local fish. Fraud and mixing are ongoing and will remain, as long as imported fish is auctioned in Sharq Market”.