MP stresses need for efforts to control prices

KUWAIT CITY, May 26: MP Faisal Al-Kandari has stressed the need to intensify efforts of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to regulate prices in supermarkets and cooperative societies, especially during the holy month of Ramadan.

According to Al-Kandari, he urged Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali Yusuf to strictly implement the plan to control the prices of commodities. He quoted the minister as saying that teams were formed to monitor the prices in cooperative societies, supermarkets and shops.

He revealed the ministry’s teams had earlier conducted a series of inspection campaigns which resulted in the confiscation of food imitations in some supermarkets. He said the teams have taken the necessary measures in accordance with regulations on the safety and health of consumers. He added the minister has affirmed the ministry’s plan to intensify its inspection campaigns to protect the consumers.

Unveiled

He went on to say that the minister unveiled a plan to assign 30 inspectors with judicial arrest capacity, in addition to the regular inspectors, to quickly take measures against those proven to have violated the law.

He stressed that regardless of the circumstances, nobody has the right to increase prices, particularly since all consumer goods and food items are available in large quantities. He pointed out the ministry must fulfill its legal obligations and hold accountable anyone who tries to take advantage of the holy month of Ramadan to gain higher profits at the expense of consumers.

In another development, the Public Funds Protection Committee noticed contradictions in the reports of officials in the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) and the Commission for Allocation of Agricultural Plots about a citizen who obtained agricultural plots illegally.

Deliberations

Committee Chairman MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji said they continued deliberations on the alleged illegal acquisition of agricultural plots. He disclosed the information made available to the committee showed that the citizen used fake contracts and companies to obtain the lots as per the letter addressed to Ministry of Interior Undersecretary Suleiman Al-Fahad to the PAAAFR director general. He stated the committee listened to the statements of Al-Fahad’s team, officers from the Residency Affairs Department and the citizen.

He added the committee noticed some questionable and suspicious procedures followed in the acquisition of the agricultural plots, so it decided to request for certain documents from the concerned authority to complete the investigation. Once the committee receives these documents, it will finalize its investigation and submit its report to the National Assembly for proper action, he concluded.