Kuwaiti fishermen address challenges facing the union

Kuwaiti fishermen address challenges facing the union

By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti Fishermen Union held a press conference on Thursday to address challenges facing the union that causes the absence of local products in the market. Head of Union Zaher Al-Suwayyan stressed local products are not a priority for some officials, demanding an increase in fishery subsidies, which have not risen for 30 years. “There is only an interest in increasing and doubling subsidies for other sectors. What has been happening for years is unfair, and makes fishermen burdened with debt and feeling threatened all the time,” he said.

Suwayyan said the union appeals to officials to resolve the problems of the fishing sector and support local products, adding many fishermen who have fishing licenses want to leave the profession due to the heavy burden on their shoulders. He stressed the importance of meeting the demands of fishermen and working to remove all challenges, the first of which is restoring the amount of subsidized diesel and gasoline to what it was before an “ill-conceived” decision by the subsidy committee to reduce it to half in May.

“Our fuel ended in three weeks and there are still ships that have not been refueled with diesel, especially with the start of