Rogue traders exploit Kuwait food subsidy scheme

FOOD RIPOFF: Rogue traders are exploiting Kuwait's subsidised food scheme. (Getty Images - for illustrative purposes only)

Kuwait on Thursday pledged a crackdown on rogue traders who are trying to exploit the Gulf state's subsidised food initiative.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry's subsidy branches provide Kuwaitis and expatrs with quality food items at reduced prices, but some people are violating the system by trying to buy and resell the items at higher prices, it was reported.

Subsidy card users have said that "a group of merchants and women" approach people at the distribution centres in an effort to persuade them to sell the food they have just purchased.

"This is a shameless act which sabotages subsidy's very essence," Mohammed Al-Marshad, a citizen who uses the subsidy card regularly, told KUNA News Agency.

The Ministry's subsidy department director, Mohammad Al-Enizire, said the sale of subsidised items was a crime, and those who are engaged in such activities could be jailed for up to 10 years.

He called upon people to report those involved in subsidy violations so that legal action could be taken against offenders.

The number of those registered for the ministry's subsidised cards is estimated at nearly 1.5 million and the number of family cards issued stands at 156,565.

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