Federation chief discounts local fish consumption fear
By Abubakar A. Ibrahim
KUWAIT CITY, May 25: The Parliamentary Environment Committee has announced that it will present its report on the fish kill issue next week.
The committee had earlier discussed the issue with representatives of concerned bodies, citing unauthorized drainages as one of the causes of the death of fish. It also pointed out the failure of relevant government agencies to play their supervisory role in this regard.
In a related development, the Kuwaiti Fishermen Federation recently organized a press conference in its headquarters in Sharq during which president of the federation Zahir AlSoyan explained that some areas along Kuwait Bay are contaminated but not the sea itself. He said dead catfish and some small fish were found near Shuwaikh Port and Al-Salam Coast, not in the sea. He added aerial photographs showed leakage of substances from Shuwaikh Port and 50 drainages into the bay, asserting the alleged presence of green grass opposite Shuwaikh Port is not true.
He said Amiri Decree No. 46/1980 prohibits fishing at Kuwait Bay, affirming that fishermen are catching fish far from the bay. He clarified, “We are fishing in open and large seas, away from where the dead fish were found. The nearest fishing zone from the fish kill location is not less than 13 nautical miles. Drinking water is taken from the bay so why be afraid of eating local fish when there is no fear of drinking water?”
He went on to say that Kuwait Municipality takes samples of local fish from the market every day before the auction. Samples are taken to the Ministry of Health laboratories for testing and results showed that local fish are safe for human consumption, he stressed.
“People should not be afraid of eating local fish. The ministry tested samples of 14 kinds of local fish and none of them were found to be harmful for human consumption. The rumor that a family suffered from food poisoning after eating fish in a restaurant is baseless. The concerned authorities must look into the issue especially since the rumor spread through Twitter. Even if it is proven true, the restaurant could be responsible considering the Municipality has confiscated tons of rotten fish
and meat from some restaurants and markets.
Meanwhile, MP Askar Al-Anazi asked Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah to increase the age requirement for admission to the military to 36 years old, in order to give a chance to all Kuwaiti youths, children of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis and Bedouns to serve in the military.
He hopes the minister will take a decision soon because a large number of the children of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis and the young citizens are above 30 years old, adding that they consider serving in the Kuwaiti Army as a continuation of the path chosen by their parents and grandparents who sacrificed for the country.