The National Assembly’s committee on Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries, chaired by Rep. So Byung-hoon, urged the government to take countermeasures against Emitting of Radioactive Water at the site of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant into the Pacific Ocean.
The committee made the demand during an audit of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) on Oct. 6. It demanded that the ministry take steps against the discharging of radioactive water by the Fukushima plant.
The committee made an enquiry about the pending issues of the fishing industry and fishing village sectors in connection with the shooting of an MOF official by North Korea on the West Sea and it called for taking aggressive policy steps to cope with the possible collapse of fishing villages.
Chmn. So Opposed to Privatization of Korea Institute for Food Industry Cluster
Chairman So Byung-hoon of the National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee took issue with Korea Institute for Food Industry Cluster’s plan on reform during the committee’s audit of the institute on Oct. 17. The innovation plan was worked out in accordance with the new government’s reform guidelines.
Materials, submitted by Korea Institute for Food Industry Cluster to the parliament, showed that the institute is manned with 111 regular officials and a long-serving part-timer, falling short of enough manpower 58.6 percent of the required one.
Korea Institute for Food Industry Cluster, established for nurturing the Korean food industry, has 10 food tech support facilities, such as functional food, food safety, packaging, sauce and home meal replacement (HMR) and about 30 kinds of advanced equipment.
Chairman So Byung-hon of the committee said, “Korea Institute for Food Industry Cluster has insufficient facilities and manpower to offer corporate support, and the institute’s failure to secure enough manpower by 2024 is feared to disrupt the operation of the tentatively named ‘Youth Food Startup Center’ and a functional ingredient bank, to be inaugurated additionally.”
He called for stopping a plan to private the institute and retrench it in the name of the incumbent government’s reinventing public entities.
Damage Caused by Forest Fires Amounts to 1,930.5 Billion Won in Over Five Years
Bush fires destroyed a combined forest area covering 34,068 ha over the past five years and incurred 1,930.5 billion won in damage. However, forest surveillance cameras designed to prevent bush fires have been found to have fallen into disrepair and are severely outdated.
A report submitted recently by Korea Forest Service (KFS) to Chairman So Byung-hoon of the National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, showed that KFS spent 1,797 million won in annual costs to replace and repair forest fire surveillance cameras, but the number of surveillance cameras that broke down during the past five years totaled 392.
Additionally, 140 cameras, or 10 percent, were found to have malfunctioned.
Out of unmanned 1,448 forest fire surveillance cameras installed across the nation, 140 units or 10 percent were found to be decrepit after more than 10 years in operation.
According to the report, by region, Gyeonggi-do topped a list of defunct surveillance cameras, with 140 units or 10 percent outdated with more than 10 years in operation. That was followed by Jeollanam-do, with 26 units, or 18.5 percent, and Gyeongsangnam-do’s 17 units, or 12.1 percent.
Seoul ranked first in terms of broken unit ratio with 20 units or 40 percent, followed by Gyeonggi-do with 22 percent and Incheon with 16 percent and Jeollanam-do with 15.9 percent.
Meanwhile, bush fires destroyed a combined forest area covering 34,068 ha across the nation in the past five years and incurred a combined 1,930.5 billion won in damage.
By area, Gyeongsangbuk-do topped the list of damage due largely to bush fires in Hapcheon and Miryang this year that destroyed a combined 20,261 ha and incurred 1,133.7 billion won in damage this year. Next came Gangwon-do with 10,445 ha and 62.79 billion won in damage area and amounts, respectively.
Chairman So said, “A forest fire, caused by a little tinderbox, could spread to a large-sized disaster, so it is more important to take swift steps upon spotting it initially.”
He called for ensuring thorough forest management and surveillance by maintaining forest fire surveillance cameras lest blind spots, caused by broken and outdated ones, should be created.
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