MAKKAH: City officials on Wednesday raided a large fish farm run by six Asian nationals. The farm, allegedly using waste water, was in the middle of a hilly area in the Nawariya neighborhood of Makkah and consisted of 21 ponds of varying sizes.
When members of a special committee raided the farm, an employee showed them a license issued by the Ministry of Agriculture. The license, which did not mention the location of the farm nor its validity, was for the production of 30 tons of fish annually. It stipulated use of clean water for farming.
Ahmed Sagheer, chairman of the committee, said the farm was raided after receiving a tip-off from a Saudi. “Since then we watched the farm and found that several vehicles came to the farm on certain days and carried large quantities of fish to sell in Makkah and Jeddah,” he said.
Sagheer accused the individuals running the farm of using chemicals to fatten the fish. “The license looked fake as it did not mention the location of the farm nor its validity period,” he said.
“We have taken samples of fish from the farm in order to conduct tests at the laboratories of the Health Department. We don’t have the authority to remove or close any farm except after getting approval from the higher authorities,” he said.
The chairman said the farm did not a have proper license and that its ponds were contaminated. “We are waiting for results from the laboratories in order to determine whether they used unclean water,” he said.
Dr. Mohammed Fotawi, director of environmental health, warned against individuals running unauthorized fish farms in any part of the country. “It’s quite surprising that the license shown by the workers of this farm did not mention its location. This puts us in an embarrassing situation,” said Fotawi.
He said action against the farm could be taken only after consulting with the Agricultural Department that licensed the farm. “According to available information, the farm that was raided is harmful to the environment and society,” he added.
The new raid comes a week after authorities closed eight fish farms in Makkah, contaminated by chemicals and sewage.
