‘Market loaded with local vegetables’

Farmers increase production

KUWAIT CITY, May 19: Chairman of Kuwaiti Farmers Union Abdullah Al-Dimak confirmed the abundant supply of local vegetables in the market, disclosing that production ranges from 700,000 to 1.2 million boxes of various local agricultural products daily, reports Al-Rai daily.

“Despite the lockdown, the local farmers have proven their ability to overcome this crisis without any citizen or resident experiencing the shortage of agricultural products. We asked the farmers to increase production and they increased it to 1.2 million boxes per day,” Al-Dimak narrated.

He then urged the Council of Ministers to support the farmers financially, in addition to subsidized electricity and water.

He also praised the decision of Social Affairs Minister Maryam Al-Aqeel to cancel the mediator, as the farmers and consumers fully benefited from this step.

Meanwhile, Acting Minister of Electricity and Water Dr Khaled Al-Fadil confirmed the country’s strategic water reserve is safe and it is currently at the highest level, reports Al-Anba daily.

He denied the rumor that the ministry’s plan to use the strategic water reserve to narrow the gap between consumption and production is a threat to the reserve. He pointed out the utilization of strategic reserve is a normal measure taken throughout the year; even during winter for maintenance, cleaning and other purposes.

Bid to prevent waste:

The State Audit Bureau (SAB) said it is committed to practicing “effective scrutiny” over public funds and government contracts related to coronavirus measures to prevent any waste of these funds.

Several state bodies have received similar purchase orders, particularly for sterile materials, amid the exceptional circumstances that the country is going through and the preventive measures assumed by these bodies, Acting Director of Advance Oversight for economic Affairs Khawla Al-Hathran told KUNA.

A Ministry of Defense order for 200,000 (500ml) sanitizer packages, from a company, was worth KD 2.950 per package (USD 9) while a similar order for the Ministry of Health, for one million (500ml) sanitizer packages from a local factory, was valued at KD 0.800 (USD 2.5) per package, she said.

The bureau has informed the defence ministry of the need to coordinate with the Ministry of Health on this matter due to the low price of the offer presented to the health ministry.