Fish Market to Be Shut down for Week for Improvements

The fish market in Beirut's Karantina area will be closed down for a week in order to introduce improvements at the facility.

Fish Market director general Yasser Zebian announced during a press conference that it will be shut starting 3:00 pm on Saturday.

Governor of Beirut Ziad Shebib ordered on Thursday the closure of the market for not meeting health standards, three months after he gave similar instructions to shut the slaughterhouse in the same area for renovations.

His order had prompted angry vendors to block the vital road outside the facility.

The governor also tasked some experts to monitor the process of renovation at the fish market.

Shebib took a similar measure in November when he ordered the Karantina slaughterhouse shut after health ministry inspectors revealed bad safety and health conditions.

The abattoir is now under renovation.

The closure of the facilities came as part of a campaign launched by Health Minister Wael Abou Faour in October to press for better health and food safety standards.

Later on Saturday, the minister had contacted Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq to explain to him the findings at the bone-crushing factory located near the Beirut slaughterhouse, urging that it be shut down.

He had ordered in November the indefinite closure of the factory for dumping contaminated waste in the Beirut River, but this demand had not been fulfilled.

Mashnouq had pledged to Abou Faour to take the necessary action regarding the bone-crushing factory.

M.T.

D.A.