The Assistant Undersecretary for Commercial Inspection Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Al-Ali has issued a series of directives to tighten the monitoring of markets to stamp out artificial price hikes and protect the consumers from cheats, reports Al-Shahed daily quoting reliable sources.
The sources added according to one of the directives the area of work of the inspectors will be changed periodically to prevent the inspectors from becoming familiar with the traders who exploit the consumers.
Sources say the inspectors will be directly under the supervision of the ministry.
Abdullah Al-Ali himself is said to have secretly monitored the work of inspectors and came to the conclusion that in the process some of the inspectors exploit their position and are lenient with traders.
He added these inspectors have been referred for investigation, and rewarded some inspectors who have put in extra efforts in their work.
He disclosed the ministry will provide 60 vehicles to monitor such activities.
Meanwhile, the agency in charge of monitoring the poultry sector has informed the Kuwait Municipality on the need to shut down all shops, which sell live chicken, due to worrying indications on the emergence of a new strain of bird flu, reports Al-Anba daily quoting Board Chairman and General Manager of the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) Jassim Al-Bader.
Al-Bader confirmed the agency has asked the Municipality to immediately take the necessary precautionary measures to protect public health. He said the poultry farm owners will be allowed to have slaughterhouses in their farms, instead of the residential areas. He confirmed the agency has completed its report on the issue, since it is also responsible for maintaining food security.
In the meantime, official sources from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have vehemently denied reports on the alleged need to close shops selling live chicken due to the bird flu scare. They said these reports are baseless, clarifying the concerned authorities have not taken any decision on the closure of the shops. - arab Times