KUWAIT CITY, May 3: The owners of well-known companies who trade in meat and other foodstuffs in the country were recently quoted as saying some influential people are trying to damage the reputation of their companies and fa-vor the companies which flood into the market ‘expired’ foodstuffs, rep-orts Al-Seyassah daily.

The daily added some of these people are owners of Al-Sahn Company which is dumping spoiled meat into the local market. According to reliable sources one of the partners of the Al-Sahn company is a Syrian, and is believed to be very influential.

The sources added the same influential people are behind the disappearance of the Al-Sahn Company files to hide the identity of the real owner.
The owners of the companies have met some MPs and senior government officials to prove their products are not ‘spoiled’ and that a plot has been hatched against them to damage the reputation of their companies.
On the other hand, the Parliamentary Health Committee is expected to summon the owners of four companies on the background of allegations that they sell expired meat, reports Al-Shahed daily.

Meanwhile, in a related development, an inspection team from the Kuwait Municipality branch in the Capital Governorate recently confiscated 60 tons of spoilt meat, fish and vegetables from a store in Al-Rai, reports Al-Seyassah daily quoting a reliable source from the Municipality.

The source said the Imported Foods Administration put the store under surveillance for over a week after receiving information on its illegal activities, resulting in the discovery of a large quantity of spoilt food items. The source confirmed acting Minister of Public Works and State Minister for Municipality Affairs has ordered the cancellation of the store’s license and referral of the owners for investigation, in coordination with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Several other stores in the area were found to have violated Municipality, sanitation and commercial regulations. The team also discovered a store licensed to operate in an area measuring 136 square meters, but it actually occupies 2,500 square meters and has three floors.  A Kuwaiti businessman subleased the store to an Asian, the source added.