KUWAIT : The Friday Market, frequented by thousands of expatriates every week, has been adversely affected by the change in weekend from Thursday and Friday to Friday and Saturday. One of the old and famous markets in the country, Friday Market is generally known for second-hand goods but one can get anything from 'a needle to a rocket' in the market. However, the recent change in weekend forced the market to change its schedule to Friday and Saturday and it is not boding well with the traders and they complain that the market is almost empty on Saturdays and "has started resembling a ghost market." "I have been working in this market since 1992 and never seen business this low," says a trader Abu Tareq, adding "most of our customers are expatriates and since most private companies are working on Saturdays, no body visits the market on Saturdays."
"I wish the authorities look into the problem and revert to the old weekend considering the huge financial losses incurred by traders and the deterioration of the market," says an affected bookseller Mubarak Al-Shimmari. Talking about other problems, Al-Shimmari said some Bangladeshi expatriates steal shoes from mosques and diwaniyas and sell them in the market on Fridays. "Hence we appeal to the Municipality to intensify its inspection on goods sold in the market," he added. However, the birds section is doing good business and did not get affected unlike the equipment and clothes sections. Giving reasons for the same, trader Al-Hajj Husein Ashkani says since most visitors visiting the birds section are Kuwaitis, our business has not been affected. However, this section is facing a different kind of a problem. "We import birds from several countries but ever since bird flu broke out last winter, bird imports have been banned and the birds currently on display belong to the last consignment which was imported almost a year ago," he said, adding "after the stock gets over, we don't know what is in store for us."
Another bird dealer Faisal Al-Tarrah appealed to authorities to allow the importation of birds from countries which were affected by bird flu such as Holland, Belgium and England. When other GCC countries like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are importing from these countries, why cannot we do the same, he asked. He added that the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) and the Environment Public Authority (EPA) are conducting tough inspections in the market to prevent the sale of migratory and predatory birds. "The market is free of bird flu disease," assured Al-Tarrah.
By Al-Sayyid Al-Qassas
© Kuwait Times 2007
