Al-Qabas daily reports that government agencies have waged a war against organized gang networks that are depleting state-subsidized food commodities and smuggling them overseas for years. More stringent punitive measures are being taken against smugglers and agencies that assist or facilitate smuggling operations.

The General Administration of Customs reported that customs officers successfully seized tens of thousands of food supplies during the year 2022. They included about 200,000 food packages, some of which were smuggled abroad through land ports.

In recent months, some individuals and shipping companies have attempted to smuggle these materials to neighboring countries or some Arab and Asian countries, with high levels of vigilance among customs officers and other authorities.

Several sources described the efforts made by the customs supervisors on the ground as "great", given the fact that they disrupt dozens of attempts every day to smuggle supplies and other prohibited materials and money.

In addition to emptying food supplies into transparent plastic containers and placing them inside electrical appliances, smugglers devise countless methods for smuggling food supplies every day. Some others try to distribute them to personal vehicles, as part of their miserable attempts to get them out of the country.

More than 200,000 subsidized commodities were seized during the past year, including rice, flour, milk, pasta, and cooking oil.

Cooking oil and milk are the most prominent commodities targeted by smugglers and the largest in size when seized.

The total value of the materials seized annually exceeds one million dinars. In such cases, the General Administration of Customs issues seizure reports in accordance with urgent instructions and refers them to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to protect them.

Due to the numerous attempts to smuggle subsidized supplies out of the country in violation of the law, Suleiman Al-Fahad, Director General of the General Administration of Customs, issued instructions in September to increase the fine for violating customs smuggling to three times its value, the maximum under the Unified Customs Law.

Customs inspectors seized 500 items last year, including food supplies and other illegal items that were being attempted to be smuggled abroad, according to administration reports.

According to customs sources, the highest number of food smuggling attempts take place through the Sulaibiya and Shubra al-Khader customs outlets. In the past year, 226 attempts to smuggle goods have been seized, an increase from the 197 attempts made in 2021.

In comparison with cooperative societies and parallel markets, the monthly subsidized food items that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry provides to citizens are considered to be of distinct nutritional and financial value. Some take advantage of the state’s support for 74 different commodities, and they smuggle them abroad to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and other countries. It is popular in the market and offered at prices that are four times the subsidized price.

For example, the value of a bag of Kuwaiti subsidized rice (weighing 50 kg) in the Saudi market amounts to 350 Saudi Riyals (KD 28.62), while it is bought in Kuwait for only KD 6 (74 Saudi Riyals). One kilogram of it is sold for 8 riyals, while Kuwait offers it to the beneficiaries for only 1.4 riyals.

In Kuwait, milk powder is provided to its citizens at a cost of KD 1,050, while it is sold in Saudi Arabia for 60 riyals (about KD 5), more than three times the real cost.

Ration card numbers and data -

- 2.1 million registered in the ration card system

- KD 210 million annual cost to cover supplies

- 49 percent of the population benefits from the catering system

Head of the Consumer Protection Department Mishaal Al-Mana called for tougher penalties for smugglers of subsidized food supplies and those who help them do so.

He stressed the need to increase vigilance and complete auditing and inspection at land outlets.

According to Al-Manea, the cooperative societies are primarily responsible for the distribution operations, as they failed to benefit from the Kuwaiti retirees' experience and did not employ them to manage supply chains. Supply department workers are not being paid a fair salary, and citizens who benefit from the supply have assigned others to obtain the rations without checking the quantities spent and the extent of the real need. This has led to a decline in oversight.

There is an automated exchange system in place at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, but the main problem is how to control and tighten it, since a balance must be struck between the administrative part and the commercial value, as well as the control of the exchange volume, and this can be achieved by internally monitoring and educating the person concerned to attend to obtaining shares and verifying payment value..”

Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior, and Acting Minister of Defense, has instructed the Public Authority for Manpower to open new cooperation frameworks to recruit expatriates from new countries. The aim of this move is to meet the increasing demand for manpower in Kuwait’s labor market.

Accordingly, the Minister of Interior has instructed the authority to coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to sign memorandums of understanding with new labor-exporting countries. The Public Authority for Manpower has also highlighted that it is committed to implementing Labor Law No. 6 of 2010 and Domestic Labor Law No. 68 of 2015, which provide comprehensive protection for workers’ rights, reports Al Qabas.

The authority further emphasized that these initiatives align with Kuwait’s broader policy to diversify the sources of expatriate labor and adjust the demographics of the country. In various sectors of the economy, these efforts aim to bridge the gap in the labor market and ensure a sufficient workforce.

Major General Abdullah Al-Rajeeb, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior for Public Security, Operations and Traffic Affairs, has instructed security directors in Kuwait’s six governorates to implement a decision by the Kuwait Municipality to close the branches of associations, restaurants, and pharmacies in private residential areas after midnight.

Under the decision, work can be limited to the main association in the area, as well as shops, restaurants, and pharmacies located inside. This decision also applies to food trucks located in residential areas after midnight, and restaurants located in association branches that only work to deliver orders without opening the restaurant, reports Al Jarida. Administrative Decision No. 3212/2022 issued by the Kuwait Municipality regulates the working hours of commercial stores in private residential areas, including branches of cooperative societies, public transport stations, commercial blocks, and other stores, except central markets affiliated with cooperative societies and pharmacies.

The decision allows stores with more than one front and a separate service door to deliver orders only without direct selling or delivery on-site, especially parking lots with all main doors closed. The decision also requires obtaining the Ministry of Interior’s approval for any request for an exception to the decision. These measures aim to enhance public safety and adjust the demographics in Kuwait.

According to Al-Jarida daily, several embassies are now studying the possibility of granting visa exemption to Kuwaitis. This came after the daily published news about 50 countries that allow Kuwaitis to enter without a visa

According to CEO Kaushik Khona, the Indian airline Go First filed a voluntary insolvency resolution application with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday.

First major airline collapse in India since Jet Airways filed for bankruptcy in 2019, and underscores fierce competition in a sector dominated by IndiGo and Akasa Air.

Also on its website, the airline, formerly known as GoAir and owned by the Wadia Group, said it had canceled flights scheduled for May 3-May 5 due to "operational reasons".

Whether Go First flies, and how many flights it operates, from May 5 remains to be seen.

The Saudi Railways Company and the Saudi General Transportation Authority disclosed that they have appointed the French company, Systra to conduct the feasibility study for a high-speed railway link between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, reports Al-Qabas daily. According to the MEED magazine this appointment comes after a series of other initiatives aimed at linking Saudi Arabia with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, as part of the Gulf railway network. Last July, Systra was selected to conduct a feasibility study on the proposed high-speed railway linking Riyadh to Doha.

The line between Riyadh and Doha could be about 550 kilometers long and could use maglev technology. MEED reported that plans for the Gulf railway network are progressing in Kuwait, after the Public Authority for Roads and Land Transport fl oated a public tender for the study and detailed design work for the first phase of the planned railway network in the country, and set the deadline for submission of tender documents May 30. The value of the tender for the first phase of the project is one million dinars ($3.25 million). The proposed single-track line will be used by both passenger and freight trains.

It extends over a distance of 111 kilometers from the southern border of Kuwait with Saudi Arabia (Nuwaiseeb point) to the urban area of Shaddadiyah. The scope of consultancy services is divided into three phases, and includes study, critical review and updating of conceptual designs for the Kuwait Railway Project, and completion of detailed engineering design, studies and technical documents required for bid submission. This includes the passenger terminal and cargo yard, as well as the border facility with Saudi Arabia. It also includes all documents required for the purchase of rolling stock, providing estimates of construction cost, operating and maintenance costs, industry readiness and technical risks. Kuwait is the northern terminus of the GCC railways, and its 111 km section represents approximately five percent of the total GCC network.

In 2008, the Gulf States, through the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council, conducted a feasibility study for Gulf Railways to develop a railway network across the Gulf States. But planned railway projects were halted in Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates due to the global financial crisis of 2009, the Arab uprisings of 2011, and the collapse of oil prices in 2014. Rail plans in the Gulf states have been derailed by factors including a lack of common standards, low oil prices, and a failure to create attractive public-private business partnership models. The most important stumbling block was the lack of political will. Even before the Gulf crisis, the cooperation required to deliver a large multinational project was missing. The Al-Ula declaration, signed in January 2021 by all six GCC countries and Egypt, put the GCC railway project back on track.

A draft decree dissolving the National Assembly had been approved by the Cabinet and presented to His Highness the Crown Prince.

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the Prime Minister, chaired the Cabinet meeting at Bayan Palace this morning.

Dr. Khaled Al-Fadhel, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, announced after the meeting that, “In line with the proposal of His Highness the Prime Minister and the text of Article (107) of the constitution, the Council of Ministers approved a draft decree dissolving the National Assembly and submitted it to His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Astronomical calculations prepared by the National Institute for Astronomical Research in Egypt revealed that the standing on the Arafat for the year 1444 AH will be on Tuesday, June 27, and Eid Al-Adha will be on Wednesday, June 28, reports Al-Rai daily quoting Al-Arabiya.net. According to the institute’s calculations, the crescent of Dhu al- Hijjah will be born at exactly at 6:38 Makkah and Cairo time, on Sunday, the 29th of Dhu al-Qi’dah 1444 AH, corresponding to June 18, 2023 AD.

The new crescent will remain in the sky of Makkah Al-Mukarramah for 29 minutes, and in Cairo for 36 minutes after sunset on that day (the day of sighting). As for Arab and Islamic capitals and cities, the new crescent will remain after sunset on that day for periods ranging between 7 and 44 minutes, and accordingly, it will be the beginning of the month of Dhul-Hijjah 1444 AH astronomically on Monday, June 19, 2023.

According to official government data, the residencies of 1.150 million expatriates were revoked in the last three years, including 67,000 who left the country between January 2022 and April 2023. “Administrative deportation” decisions were issued against 11,000 of them in the first quarter of this year, while last year witnessed the cancellation of 56,279 expatriate residences, reports Al-Qabas daily. According to informed sources, the revocation of the aforementioned residencies is due to many reasons, on top of which is the desire of the residency owner to leave, and the issuance of deportation decisions for violating the work and residency laws.

Meanwhile, as the world celebrates the International Workers’ Day, which falls on May 1 every year, the local labor market has witnessed the entry of large numbers of labor force recently, despite the closure that the market witnessed coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic and its repercussions on many sectors. An official data revealed that the year 2022 recorded a remarkable recovery in the labor market, represented by the entry of 67,000 workers into the country for the first time, 64 percent of who are domestic workers as the highest attracting sectors for labor, while the remaining number is distributed among the rest of the sectors.

Based on official data, about 227,000 expatriates left the country in 2021, most of whom are working in the private and family sectors as “domestic workers”. About 160,000 expatriates left the country and were not compensated. With the exception of the family sector, the new employment targeted seven main activities in the private sector. The construction sector witnessed a boom in the number of registrants during the past year, rising to 218,000 workers from only 100 thousand in 2021. In the “wholesale trade” sector, the volume of new registered employment increased by a total of 6,000 to reach 64,000 workers in the field, along with 146,000 in “manufacturing industries”, which witnessed an increase of 23,000 over 2021.

The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) has launched a new electronic service to the Sahel Business app, aimed at streamlining and simplifying transactions for its customers. The new service allows for the registration of authorized signatures, automating the process and making it easier for businesses to comply with regulatory requirements.

To access the service, customers need to log into the Sahel Business app, select the PAM services from the list of administrative services, and click on "Add the authorized signatory." They will then need to provide the necessary information, including file number, phone number, and email, before registering the electronic signature of the authorized signatory. Once submitted, the application will be reviewed and approved by the authority.

However, before approval, there is a waiting period of 24 hours during which the Ministry of Justice will conduct necessary checks to ensure the accuracy of the information provided. If the data is correct, the application will be automatically transferred to the relevant labor department for further processing. Once the application is approved, customers will not be required to visit the offices.

This new electronic service demonstrates PAM's commitment to developing and simplifying their services, making it easier for businesses to comply with regulations. By utilizing the Sahel Business app, customers can access a range of administrative services, including visa and residency permits, labor contracts, and now, authorized signature registration.

According to a judicial source, the total debts of Kuwaiti citizens against whom orders for the enforcement of judicial rulings were issued amounted to KD 6 billion and 164 million. Orders were issued to prevent the wanted persons from travelling and to seize their assets, reports Al-Qabas daily. He said these debtors include individuals and companies that have defaulted in fulfilling their loan obligations against them.

The source described the national campaign titled “Your support is a joy for them”, which was recently launched by the Ministry of Social Affairs in order to pay off the debts of Kuwaiti citizens and not companies, as “wonderful”, but stressed that it lacks wide social interaction, given the huge amount of debts. He indicated that this campaign and the sums collected are subject to the supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs, which sets its conditions through the targeted cases, and has the right to distribute funds to whomever it sees fit among the cases against which enforcement rulings have been issued.

The Ministry of Social Affairs had also announced recently that the proceeds of donations from the campaign, which was launched on Sunday, exceeded KD 10 million. This amount will be directed to the Ministry of Justice to pay the debts of indebted citizens, especially the elderly, women and people with special needs, whose circumstances made them fall into the grip of debts which they could not pay back. Meanwhile, statistics prepared by Al-Jarida daily show 52 factories have been shut down administratively for committing various types of violations such as falling short on labor requirements regulating the industry law in Kuwait, at the same time said 27 warnings had been issued and time given to correct the situation, reports Al- Jarida daily.

The violations varied, but the most prominent of them (33 factories) were failure to pay the rents, in addition to practicing activities without a license, distortion and carrying out work outside the boundaries of the plots on areas of up to 1500 square meters, as well as exploiting the plot for work other than what the authority license mentioned. As for the warnings, they were issued due to the closure of the factories, in addition to workers residing inside the factories, in addition to practicing activities without an industrial license in various areas, according to the reports of the Industrial Inspection Department.

 Kuwait has regressed in the ranking of the richest countries in the world in terms of per capita GDP in terms of purchasing power, as it ranked 36th in the world out of 193 countries, compared to 31st in last year’s ranking.

Oman ranked sixth and last in the Gulf, according to the Global Finance report, says Al-Qabas daily. According to the April World Economic Outlook report issued by the International Monetary Fund, the parity of per capita GDP with purchasing power in Kuwait rose from $51,000 last year to $53,000 in the new classification.

The Ministry of Education's Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education, Osama Al-Sattan, has issued directives to the heads of educational regions and the Religious Education Department to communicate the importance of not burdening students, parents, and teachers with external projects that could result in financial stress, according to Al-Jarida daily.

These directives emphasize that school administrations, educational and administrative staff, students, and their guardians should not be required to undertake or contribute to any tasks or financial obligations beyond their designated responsibilities. Additionally, students and their parents should not be asked, either directly or indirectly, to participate in activities outside their duties or to provide monetary donations.

Furthermore, all educational and school-related needs should be covered using the financial fund account, the school canteen account, or the advances of the scientific departments, adhering to established rules and regulations. The directives also mandate that the phone number (22304303) and a barcode featured on the document be shared through WhatsApp with all relevant parties (parents, educational, and administrative staff), who should then acknowledge receipt by signing with a flag.

Any individual found to be in violation of these directives and previous circulars will face legal consequences. The Ministry has emphasized the importance and urgency of implementing these measures to alleviate financial pressures on students and their families.

The Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) declared a one-month extension for the deadline of the railway project tender, which involves study, design work, and document preparation, as reported by Al-Jarida daily. This extension applies to the first stage of the tender process and affects companies bidding on the project.

The CAPT has requested the Public Authority for Roads and Land Transport (PART) to schedule a preliminary meeting with the bidding companies. Additionally, the CAPT has asked PART to supply an amending annexure for tender No. 2.

In a different matter, the central agency revealed the opening of bid envelopes for the management, operation, maintenance, and execution of the Kabd station expansion and supplementary tasks. The project has attracted five bidders, as recorded in the price list. The bid documents have been forwarded to the Ministry of Works for evaluation and necessary recommendations within a 30-day period.

Kuwait joined the world to celebrate the World Malaria Day, which falls on April 25 annually, as it was celebrated for the first time in 2008 in Africa, to assess and raise awareness of the global efforts to control and combat this disease and reduce the death rate in African countries in particular, reports Al-Qabas daily. The Kuwaiti health sources reassured that malaria is a disease “imported” from abroad and is not endemic in Kuwait, since the country is not known as an incubating environment and the country is free of any infections with it.

The sources added that in recent years, a few cases of the disease coming from abroad, from African or East Asian countries, were monitored and treated, noting that the disease is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, transmitted by mosquitoes and infiltrates into red blood cells in the human body and destroys them indicating that these mosquitoes do not exist in the country, just as malaria is not contagious, and when a person coming from abroad is infected with it, it does not infect others except in certain cases. For example, an infected mother transmits malaria to the fetus, or through blood transfusions from an infected person, or sharing needles with an infected person.

The sources said if an expatriate is diagnosed with the disease upon his arrival in the country is subjected to treatment protocols in order to recover from it. The sources indicated that the Ministry of Health requires expatriate workers in countries affected by the disease to be examined before they are brought to Kuwait, to ensure that they are not infected, and the examination is repeated once they enter the country to ensure that they are free from malaria, and called on travelers to countries where malaria is widespread of the need to visit the travel clinic of the Ports and Borders Health Department in the Al-Sabah health area, two weeks before the date of their travel, to take the necessary vaccinations for various diseases, including malaria.

The Al-Ujairi Scientific Center said next Friday, April 28, the country will witness the end of what it called the Draa’an season and the beginning of the ‘al-Kannah’ season, which is an indication of the onset of hot weather, reports Al-Qabas daily. The center added, in a press release, that the al-Kannah season is one of the first signs of the end of the moderate spring season in Kuwait, the duration of which is 39 days.

The press release pointed out that with the onset of the rays of the sun last longer which leads to rise in temperatures calling the entry of this season ‘a transitional stage’ from the spring to the beginning of the mild summer, during which the atmosphere becomes stressful due to the increasing heat in addition to the increase in the level of dust and the possibility of precipitation.

The al-Kannah season, the press release said, has three phases and each of them is divided into 13 days equally, as it ends in the middle of the Sarayat period, which may during the last period may bring in sudden rainfall accompanied by thunder and lightning, and sometimes cold breeze. Dr. Saleh Al-Ujairi – may God have mercy on him – had pointed out that with the advent of this season, the temperatures gradually rise until they touch 40 degrees Celsius.

Forecasting Eid Al Adha Dates and a Potential 5-Day Weekend

As Kuwait residents wrap up the first long weekend of the year with the four-day Eid Al Fitr celebration, the excitement for the next holiday is already growing. The forthcoming extended break will celebrate Arafah Day and Eid Al Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, and is expected to be even longer.

According to the Kuwaiti official public holiday calendar, this four-day break will take place from Zul Hijjah 9 to 12 in the Islamic calendar. If these dates align with the weekend, residents may enjoy a six-day break. As with other Islamic holidays, the exact dates will depend on moon-sighting.

Astronomy expert Ibrahim Al Jarwan previously shared in a video that the Islamic month of Zul Hijjah is anticipated to begin on Monday, June 19, based on calculations. As a result, Eid Al Adha could likely occur on Wednesday, June 28, while Arafah Day, observed the day before Eid, may fall on Tuesday, June 27. Al Jarwan is the chairman of the Board of Directors for the Emirates Astronomical Society.

If these predictions prove accurate, the Kuwait holiday could extend from Tuesday, June 27, to Friday, June 30, resulting in a five-day break when combined with the Saturday weekend.

Islamic moon-sighting committees will convene again to confirm the official dates, and all Muslims are encouraged to watch for the crescent moon.

Eid Al Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, involves offering special prayers and slaughtering livestock—typically a goat, sheep, cow, or camel—in commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim's test of faith. The festival honors his willingness to sacrifice his son as commanded by Allah, who ultimately provided a ram for the prophet to slaughter instead.