Fresh fish on display being kept on the floor of the Male' fish market. A study conducted by the Maldives Food & Drug Authority found that keeping fish on the floor made it more susceptible to contamination. Following the reports that frozen fish cuts for sale were being kept on the floor at the Male' fish market, Male' Municipality has decided to construct a proper counter where the fish can be kept on display until sold. Work on building the counter will begin next week, the Municipality said. The Male' Municipality had requested the Maldives Food & Drug Authority (MFDA) to take necessary steps to find a solution to the problem of the frozen fish cuts being kept on the floor during last December. The complaint was raised by a senior supervisor at the Municipality and the MFDA had conducted a study of the problem at the request made by the Municipality on 5th December 2007. According to the results of the study all fish sold at the market should be kept on a raised platform that was higher than six inches from the floor. The report sent to the Municipality by the MFDA on 18th February 2008 also made note of the fact that the hygiene conditions at the fish market, especially the floor where the fish were kept, was very poor. A senior official from the Municipality said that following the report submitted by the MFDA they were going to build raised platforms for counters where the fish cuts could be kept for sale. The counters will be 30ft long, 3 inches wide and will have a height of 1ft. "The counters will begin at the northeast corner of the market,' the official said. "The MFDA's report suggests that keeping the fish cuts on the market floor make them very susceptible to contamination by bacteria and germs. This is the solution to the problem.' The MFDA's report also found that the temperature of the iceboxes used to store fish cuts at the fish market were below five degrees Celsius.; MFDA suggests that the temperature of the iceboxes should not go below five degrees Celsius. The report also found some people substituted contaminated water for ice in some of the containers used to store frozen fish. The MFDA's suggested temperature for storing frozen fish is at below -18 degrees Celsius. The Municipality official said that it was the job of the MFDA and the Fisheries Ministry to monitor the temperature at which the fish were being stored at the fish market and that he had not received any reports on whether the problems at the fish market had been attended to. "We are responsible for keeping the fish market clean,' he said. "We believe that it's the relevant Government authorities' job to observe how fish are being stored at the market. The Fisheries Ministry and the MFDA, to be specific.' Fishermen at the fish market are known to keep their iceboxes open when they are selling fish and others even take them out of the box and keep them on the floor for display. Experts believe that frozen fish can easy become infected if the temperature rises and would not be suitable for human consumption.