Ministry of Interior, on Thursday, called on drivers and sea-goers to exercise caution due to unstable weather, in addition to the warnings of the Meteorological Department of the possibility of rainfall in the coming days. In a press statement, the ministry also called on everyone not to hesitate and to call (112) when facing any emergency. (KUNA)

Days after the Cabinet’s decision to cancel the permission to hold recreational activities in the agricultural areas of Al-Wafra and Al- Abdali, the Council of Ministers this time has given the nod to establish a recreational park in Al-Wafra agricultural area, reports Al-Qabas daily. The Cabinet has assigned the ministerial committee supervising the follow-up and implementation of major development projects, and the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources to coordinate with the competent authorities to develop appropriate scenarios for the exploitation of the site that has been allocated by the Municipal Council.

The daily had published the decision to cancel entertainment projects in agricultural areas in its issue on July 20, under the title ‘The Council of Ministers is retracting entertainment in Wafra and Abdali’, and then the Council addressed the concerned authorities in its letter issued on July 24, 2022, during which it assigned the Ministerial Committee to implement this huge project on an area of about one million square meters. At a time when demands are increasing to open the atmosphere for entertainment in the country and to exploit agricultural areas to attract visitors — citizens and residents — who are eager to spend quiet times in the nature away from the urban hectic activity, a number of farmers considered that the establishment of this recreational park will serve domestic tourism.

The farmers reiterated that the establishment of recreational activities does not confl ict with food security. On the contrary, “attracting visitors will open new outlets for the sale of national crops and products.” Documents obtained by the daily showed that the planned park will include fish lakes, cinemas, local and international restaurants and cafeterias, in addition to water sports, open theaters, cultural centers, sports fields, accommodation cabins, a moving train, and others.

The General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (GSSCPD) organized on Wednesday an exhibition entitled ‘Feather and Art’ in cooperation with the Kuwaiti Awareness Team of Birds. Mohammad Anber, Vice President of the Kuwaiti Awareness Team of Birds, told Kuwait Times that the exhibition was held to raise awareness of the birds through pictures and paintings, adding “We are participating in the exhibition in cooperation with GSSCPD. Today’s exhibition is diverse and is the first of its kind to combine pictures of painters and photographers.”

He pointed out that his team is the first in the Middle East that combines talking birds’ species and birds of prey. “We are an environmental volunteer team,” he noted. “We aspire to raise a conscious generation to preserve the environment. We aim to create an educated and aware generation of the importance of endemic and migratory birds in environmental balance and work to make Kuwait and the Gulf States capitals for awareness and environmental culture.”

Anber affirmed that the Kuwaiti team is against poaching. “The ecological balance must be preserved. For example, one owl eats between 1,000 to 2,000 mice per year,” he said. “If we killed or hunted owls, the number of mice will increase, will start attacking homes and areas and we will get back to the plague era.” 

“We have been working on community awareness for the past six years, by organizing exhibitions and awareness campaigns in schools and universities and cooperation with government ministries. We visited almost 80 percent of Kuwait schools. The Kuwaiti people became more aware, and we see this through the children in schools. We must build an environmentally conscious generation,” he added.

The joint tripartite commission, led by the General Administration of Residence Affairs’ Investigations, organized a sudden inspection security campaign in several Salmiya malls on Tuesday. The inspection resulted in the arrest of 19 violators of labor law, who were referred to the proper authorities to take necessary measures against them. 

The campaign was launched with the aim of inspecting workers in Salmiya and detect those who violate the labor law, Dr Fahd Al-Murad, Director of the Labor Inspection Department at Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), said on the sidelines of the campaign. “Today’s campaign aimed at regulating the labor market, where we spotted several violations in several malls in Salmiya,” he said. “Several booth salesmen were working illegally, and there were many unlicensed booths.”

Murad revealed that most of the workers that were arrested have family visas (article 22) and there were children aged under 18 among the workers. He stressed that PAM does not issue work permits for juveniles, unless under certain conditions. “A special work permit must be issued for juveniles, most of whom are employed in the summer for a short period,” he explained. “Article 19 of the labor law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15, and Article 20 regulates the work of those who are 15-18 years old according to specific conditions. So far, no company has come to issue a work permit for juveniles.”

As for the violators, he indicated that there are two penalties; a criminal penalty for violating Article 10 of the labor law, punished by a fine ranging from KD 2,000 to 10,000, and/or imprisonment for up to three years. The other penalty is taken against the company; the employer’s file will be suspended and followed up to verify that he is not practicing his business. Murad affirmed that any employment of a worker in the labor market under the name ‘training period’ or ‘part-time job’ is considered illegal. 

In the meantime, Ibrahim Al-Sabaan, the head of the emergency team at Kuwait Municipality – Hawalli Governorate branch, said, “We have cooperated with the joint committee to control several workers carrying out an activity not mentioned in the company’s license. An administrative closure will be requested by the municipality.”

“We usually inspect public places, but recently it was monitored that booth workers escaped when we enter the mall, so we formed the team today to monitor those violations. A violation has now been issued and there will be a serious penalty on the worker or the license holder of a fine ranging from KD 500 to 1,000 and a travel ban,” he noted.

A researcher specialized in domestic labor affairs Bassam Al-Shammari has called on government agencies related to employment such as the Ministry of Interior and Public Authority for Manpower to reconsider the decision that bans the transfer of domestic workers from one employer to another in the event of a dispute between the two parties and the insistence of workers not to continue with the employer and reserve all legally guaranteed rights, reports Al-Anba daily. In a press statement, Al-Shammari explained that a decision must be issued in this regard without considering deportation as the first step to take.

Rather, it must be preceded by serious attempts to benefit from the workforce by re-employing them. If this is not possible, they must receive all their dues before leaving. Rehabilitating workers and returning them to the domestic and private labor market are some of the most important solutions to eliminate labor shortage, contribute to the stability of the labor market, remove injustice from the majority of workers, and address the shortcomings and the observations of human rights organizations regarding the negative aspects of the sponsorship system. He highlighted the importance of adopting the proposal for the final clearance that proves that the domestic worker has received all his entitlements stipulated by law upon leaving either permanently or for periodic leave.

Al-Shammari affirmed that this procedure is in place in neighboring countries, and the results have proven successful both for civil and domestic workers, as it has led to a decrease in cases related to violation of material rights. He said employment has increased by 90 percent, which made these countries attractive to all types of employment.

Al-Shammari stressed the need to give the worker an end-of-service gratuity, one month’s salary and a paid leave of 30 days after completing 11 months of work, in accordance with the domestic labor law and the executive regulations. He indicated that these benefits, if not applied, may turn into violations against domestic workers and cause disputes and losses, something that affects the costs of recruitment and causes reluctance to send workers to Kuwait.

With the approach of the month of Muharram (first month in the Islamic calendar), the Ministry of Interior has completed preparations to keep pace with the activities of the Husseiniyas on the start of Muharram, culminating on the 10th day or Ashura. It has allocated a security force of about 2,900 security personnel, including 100 women, that has been dispatched to secure 106 Husseiniyas.

Movement around these sites will be controlled in order to preserve the safety of its congregations, reports Al-Rai daily. The Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Operations, Traffic and Public Security Affairs Major General Jamal Al-Sayegh revealed that the ministry is ready to keep pace with the Ashura commemoration. He said, “Based on the instructions and supervision of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior Lieutenant-General Anwar Al-Barjas, all necessary arrangements have been completed as well as the readiness of all sectors involved in securing Husseiniyas. This is based on an integrated security plan that was developed in coordination with the owners of the Husseiniya councils, and after listening to some observations that the Ministry of Interior took into consideration, to ensure the safety of citizens and residents”.

Major General Al-Sayegh stressed that the security plan set by the ministry, which is represented in the distribution of fixed security detachments and foot patrols and the deployment of personnel from traffic and rescue, public security, intelligence, civil defense and special forces as well as medical emergencies and firefighting forces, as well as male and female volunteers. He said, “The task of securing entry and exit will be the responsibility of the organizers who own the councils within the walls. Outside, the task of the police will be to secure 106 Husseiniyas.

About 2,900 police officers were screened to secure the Husseiniyas including 100 women police officers. In addition, about 200 male and female volunteers will participate in the various tasks to closely monitor the security situation, ensure attendance, and inspect arrivals using the best equipment. The ministry has established a mini controls room in each governorate, linked with the main operations room in the ministry in Sabhan area. There are cameras that monitor each site from all directions. Also, security barriers are set up to prevent the presence of vehicles in the vicinity of the Husseiniya. All the police officers are fully equipped, fully prepared and have clear instructions to deal skillfully and efficiently with citizens and residents and provide them with any assistance”.

In a letter forwarded by MP Bader Al-Humaidi to Deputy Prime Minister Kohammad Al-Fares, the MP accused Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) and Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) of violating recruitment regulations and National Labor Support Law number 19/2000. According to him, these companies have been hiring workers without publishing job advertisements; therefore, he requested copies of the recruitment regulations and job advertisements published since 2000.

 Kuwaitis currently employed at Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation (KNPC) and its subsidiaries are not allowed to apply for advertised positions, the number of applicants rejected because of the condition since 2000 till date, the number of nationals employed by KFPE and KPI compared to foreigners, job descriptions published in their consultant job advertisements, the number of workers hired through labor supply companies, and contracts with consultants since 2000 till date.

Furthermore, he asked what the legal basis was for the Environment Public Authority (EPA) to charge KD80 for the compulsory testing of chemical substances imported from other GCC countries. According to him, Kuwait's decision violates the commercial treaties between Kuwait and other GCC countries, as the authority assigned two companies to carry out the testing and evaluation procedures, even though it has laboratories and staff capable of doing so.

While the Court of Cassation declared that chemical substances imported from other GCC countries are exempt from taxation and testing, the decision remains in effect. The decision contradicts the State's vision for investment and industry development. MP Muhannad Al-Sayer also asked Minister of Health Khalid Al-Saeed for clarification regarding allegations that Kuwaiti women were admitted without medical records to the Psychiatric Hospital. According to him, the Health Ministry did not investigate the issue, the number of these women, and the reasons for confining them at the hospital, as well as whether any of them were abused or assaulted by the medical staff.

Talal Al-Mutairi, the Kuwaiti Assistant Foreign Minister for Human Rights Affairs, said the country has taken many measures to protect citizens and residents since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).

The statement was made to KUNA during his participation in the fourth Arab regional high-level conference on human rights protection and promotion. According to him, Kuwait's amendment of the preventive health law and economy contributed greatly to reducing the humanitarian and economic effects of the pandemic. The conference discussed the instructions given to the government by the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to assist and protect all segments of society during the pandemic.

Since the conference was an opportunity to recall the efforts made by Arab countries to address Covid-19, Al-Mutairi underscored that the pandemic had negatively affected basic human rights, including the right to live and access to health services. A joint conference between the Arab League and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) was launched today.

 Four Kuwaiti banks make a mark among the top 100 banks in emerging markets, according to a report issued by the Fitch Ratings Agency. The four banks are the National Bank of Kuwait with total assets of $109.9 billion and total loans of $67.3 billion as at the end of the fiscal year 2021; followed by Kuwait Finance House with total assets of $72 billion and loans of $39.7 billion, in third place is the Burgan Bank with total assets of $72 billion and $23.4 billion in total loans, and then comes the Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait with total assets of $18.6 billion and total loans of $12 billion.

Thus, in the GCC countries Kuwaiti banks rank third in the list equally with Saudi Arabia, with 4 banks each, while the UAE topped with 7 banks, followed by Qatar with a total of 5 banks. In contrast, the list included one Omani bank and a Bahraini bank.

Fitch stated that it is launching a series of reports that follow a sample of 100 large banks from emerging markets, as defined by the International Monetary Fund, explaining that this sample primarily includes banks that issue bonds in the capital markets, and were selected based on the total size to its balance sheets regardless of whether they are classified by Fitch, provided that the report is updated on a semi-annual basis. The largest banks by asset volume in the sample are located in China, followed by Brazil, India, Qatar and the UAE.

The concerned authorities in the government did not find a better place to dump the debris of the Mubarakiya market fire than the Capital itself, specifically opposite the Endowment Complex, reports Al-Qabas daily. And that too in the middle of one of the important squares in the heart of the city, surrounded by main streets and surrounded by a number of commercial complexes and government buildings. 

The daily added, large amounts of rubble and building debris harm the environment and the landscape in the area which was proposed to be the site for the international financial center. One of the concerned authorities responsible for beautifying the city justified the dumping of the rubble at this site by saying that in order to find materials among this debris that can be used in the restoration of the buildings of Souk Al Mubarakiya, such as the sea rock or wood.

The concerned authority, which ordered the transfer of these rubble and waste from the burned part of Souk Al Mubarakiya, was supposed to work to find materials that could be used in the market site itself before transporting it to the area or to direct it to the construction waste site and search for what it wanted there at the same location as they are being treated instead of being dumped in a vital and important location, which has harmed the Capital.

The Kuwait housing real-estate scene had witnessed a sharp decline in deals by 50 percent in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. Some attributed this decline to price inflation of real estate and the static purchasing power on part of clients in Kuwait leading to a huge margin between supply and demand.

There were 2,470 deals worth KD 1.13 billion (around USD 3.3 billion) in the first half of this year as opposed to 4,814 deals worth KD 1.40 billion (around USD 4.6 billion) in the same period in 2021. Speaking to KUNA on this issue, local real-estate expert and Director General of Abraj Behbehani company, Alaa Behbehani told KUNA Tuesday that the price inflation was the main cause of the sharp decline. Kuwait, as in the case of other countries, has been affected by the increase of interest rate announced by the US Federal Reserve, said Behbehani, adding that the latter continued to increase the interest rate of the US Dollar, which contributed in turn to withdrawal of liquidity from the world market.

Even though there have been reports regarding the legal loopholes in the street vendors regulation, which has been implemented for 40 years without amendment, and it has been considered canceled by new laws on Kuwait Municipality, municipal teams are still issuing citations based on this regulation, which itself is based on Law No. 15/1972, according to Aljarida daily. The municipality branches' inspection teams in all governorates continue to issue citations to these vendors without considering their eligibility or legal significance. During the past week, a record number of citations were issued against these vendors. During one of the tours in the governorate, the supervisory team in Ahmadi Municipality issued 72 citations against a street vendor.

 Sources in the municipality report that no new instructions exist for stopping street vendors from violating the old regulations. Previously, the municipality had lost many cases involving these vendors. Due to its many flaws, the regulation is one of the old regulations that needs to be amended urgently to avoid legal difficulties for the municipality.

In violation of the Juvenile Exploitation Law, it allows municipalities to issue street vendor licenses to 14-year-olds. Although the regulation is applicable in the legal procedures, it is not implemented as a whole, which supports the need to amend and rewrite it, and stop the violation procedures until new ones are issued regulating or prohibiting street vendors.

Al-Rai daily reported that the Ministry of Defense conducted random drug tests on about 5,000 soldiers from different units and brigades during the past two weeks to protect the reputation of the military institution.

 In accordance with the sources, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Talal Al- Khaled directed the army officials to conduct sudden checks to ensure that no soldiers consumed narcotics or psychotropic substances for health and safety reasons.

According to sources, the tests are random and apply to all military personnel, regardless of rank or position. This practice is not new, according to sources, and is an ongoing process that has existed since the establishment of the Kuwaiti army, but has been implemented by order of the minister.

An administrative inspection committee in the Health Licensing Department has sealed a medical laboratory in Farwaniya, according to the Assistant Undersecretary for National Medical Services Affairs at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Fatima Al-Najjar.

 In addition to the presence of a laboratory technician who lacks a license, Dr. Al-Najjar stated a number of other violations were observed in this laboratory, including the administrative and technical staff whose residence does not belong to this laboratory, but to another place. A referral will be made to the Public Prosecution for this matter, and any violation of the rules and regulations of the Ministry of Health will be prosecuted. 

 After it topped the category of broadcasting applications in Kuwait during the first quarter of 2022, the Tik Tok application confirmed its importance, and returned to occupy the first place again, during the second quarter of this year, according to what was revealed by the Communications and Information Technology Authority, while the YouTube application came in second place followed by Netflix, Twitch, and Watch, reports Al-Qabas daily.

With regard to social media, the Facebook was the most used application in Kuwait during the second quarter of this year, followed by Twitter and the social blogging platform Tumblr.

On Saturday, the Kuwaiti Army announced that the Kuwaiti Air Force and Navy will conduct live-fire exercises beginning on Monday.

 In a press release, the army said the exercises would take place at the sea shooting range located 16.5 nautical miles east of Ras Al- Julaiaa as far as Qaruh Island and six nautical miles east of Ras Al-Zour as far as Umm Al-Maradem.

The Ministry of Education is ready to turn the page of the scholastic year 2021-2022, with the end of the second round exams and the announcement of the results late this week, terminating all measures that were taken as a result of the new corona pandemic, said the next school year, will be a real challenge for it, in light of the comprehensive program for students after three years of different systems adopted by the ministry in light of the state’s measures to combat and confront the virus, reports Al-Rai daily.

With the decision of the comprehensive return to school decided, and the desire of the Ministry of Education to intensify its efforts to prepare early for the summer vacation, in order to avoid all the problems that prompted it to postpone the return, the educational facilities sector has begun all preparations by organizing work and air conditioning units in all schools for four months of maintenance. An engineering source told the daily maintenance work began last November, stressing that “the air-conditioning system needs a complete replacement in old schools whose age has exceeded 15 years, and it amounts to about 60 percent of schools, especially in Al- Firdous areas, old Farwaniya, Andalusia, Sulaibikhat, Doha and most of the old areas in Kuwait.

The source stressed that carrying out maintenance of these units is useless and said replacing these machines is much better and more economical than maintaining them, because all maintenance work for them is considered temporary patchwork solutions to no avail. He said that “during the past two months, the finishing work was carried out in most of the air-conditioning units, and what is necessary was done in terms of maintenance making sure that the units are clean and how much they need gas and whether they work well or not.” He stressed that “thousands of units have been filled with gas, and the presence of leakage in many of them is normal.” He stated that the air-conditioning contract is in effect in all educational areas, but here comes the role of the engineer supervising the company’s work. We go around the schools one after the other, to make sure that the necessary action is taken then we write our reports to the facilities sector.

The Criminal Court sentenced an Indian expat to death by hanging for smuggling in narcotic substances with a market value of about 11,000 dinars with the intent of trafficking. The Drug Enforcement Department had arrested the accused, in coordination with the Customs Department, as soon as he had received postal parcel brought in from a European country that contained the seized items.

The accused admitted to importing of drugs of one and a quarter kilos of hashish, and put them inside boxes of chocolate candy so that he would fool the customs and his trick would not be discovered.

The Residency Affairs Department has stopped family visit visas, while the assistant undersecretary of the Residency Sector and the director general and assistant director general of the Residency Affairs Department have limited its issuance. Such a decision was taken after discovering 20,000 expatriates who visited Kuwait but did not leave or failed to leave after the expiry of their visa, reports Al-Anba daily quoting informed sources. They said, “The issue of resuming family visits is in the hands of the First Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior. No one is sure of the date of resumption of these visits or the controls under which they will be reissued. The study includes conditions for the expatriate who brought his family or relatives to ensure they leave the country immediately after the expiry date of the visit visa. Nonetheless, the issuance of commercial visit visas have not been suspended.

Meanwhile, the Residency Affairs Sector issued a circular, which included the issuance of a new visa for domestic workers who lost the entry visa that was issued using the PF7 feature in the visa system without canceling the previous lost visa, and until its expiry in the computer system. The circular stressed that all residency sector employees abide by these instructions and do not violate them. It is worth highlighting that circular No. 47/2022 regarding the loss of original entry visas issued to domestic workers stated the following: Further to the circular No. 161/8 dated 5/30/2022, many clients visit the Residence Affairs departments and service centers in all governorates to report the loss of the original entry visa issued to the domestic workers to be recruited from abroad and request the cancellation of the lost entry visa from the computer system and the issuance of a new entry visa instead.

With reference to paragraph 3 of the aforementioned previous circular, in the event the employer claims to have lost the original entry visa issued to the worker, he can submit to the competent department a request to issue a new entry visa for the same worker to whom the lost visa was issued. It was hence decided to issue a new visa to the same domestic worker for whom the lost entry visa was issued using the PF7 feature of the visa system without canceling the previous lost visa until it expires in the computer system.