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THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAITEstablished in
1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com
MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2021 / JUMADA AL AWWAL 20, 1442 AH emergency
number 112 NO. 17578 16 PAGES 150 FILS
basketball soccer
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This Nov 4, 2020 file satellite photo, by Maxar Technologies
shows Iran’s Fordo nuclear site. Iran has told international
nuclear inspectors it plans to enrich uranium up to 20% at its
underground Fordo nuclear facil-ity, a technical step away from
weapons-grade levels, as it increases pressure on the West over its
tattered
atomic deal. (AP)
A man grieves at the site of last year’s US airstrike at
Baghdad’s international airport on Saturday, Jan 2, 2021, on the
anniversary of the killings of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy
commander of the Popular
Mobilization Forces and Gen. Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s
Quds forces. (AP)
BAGHDAD RALLY MARKS IRAN GENERAL’S SLAYINGEnrichment up ‘as soon
as possible’
Fordo initiates US work on bunker buster bombs
DUBAI, Jan 3, (Agencies): Iran said Saturday it plans to enrich
uranium up to 20% at its underground Fordo nuclear facility “as
soon as possible,” pushing its program a technical step away from
weapons-grade levels as it increases pressure on the West over the
tattered atomic deal.
The move comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US
in the waning days of the administration of President Donald Trump,
who unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal in
2018.
That set in motion an escalating series of incidents capped by a
U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Bagh-
dad a year ago, an anniversary coming Sunday that has American
officials now worried about possible retaliation by Iran.Iran’s
decision to begin enriching to 20% a decade ago nearly brought an
Israeli strike targeting its nuclear facilities,
tensions that only abated with the 2015 atomic deal. A
resumption of 20% enrichment could see that brinksmanship
return.Even Ali Akbar Salehi, the US-educated head of the civilian
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, offered a military anal-
ogy to describe his agency’s readiness to take the next step.“We
are like soldiers and our fingers are on the triggers,” Salehi told
Iranian state television. “The commander should com-
mand and we shoot. We are ready for this and will produce (20%
enriched uranium) as soon as possible.”The White House had no
immediate comment and referred to a statement issued in December by
Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo after Iran’s parliament passed a bill on increasing
uranium enrichment. Pompeo condemned the law as “nothing
‘Common destiny’ focusRIYADH, Jan 3, (KUNA): Days ahead of
summit talks in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait’s Ambassador in Riyadh said he
believes Gulf Cooperation Council leaders will discuss challenges
with “belief in a common destiny.”
The talks come amid a “fra-ternal and positive atmosphere,” said
Sheikh Ali Al-Khaled Al-Sabah. “This reflects a sense of
responsibility and sincere belief in the importance of
strengthen-ing Gulf solidarity, facing com-mon challenges and
maintaining peace and stability in their coun-tries,” he added.
“The Arab Gulf region faces great economic, development and
political issues and challenges,” said the ambassador, adding that
the leaders “will discuss all these issues and challenges with one
vi-sion stemming from their belief in a common destiny and their
keen-ness to preserve the interests of the region’s countries and
its people.”
The ambassador recalled the loss of the late Amir of Kuwait, His
Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who “long strived
for Gulf solidarity
and unity.”He also expressed confidence
in the success of the summit un-der the wise leadership of Saudi
Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdu-laziz Al-Saud and Crown Prince Prince
Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
The Gulf Cooperation Coun-cil is stepping steadily towards the
fifth decade of cooperation march due to the wisdom of GCC
countries leaders, said the Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary
General Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf.
Also:KUWAIT CITY: His Highness the Amir of Kuwait’s envoy
For-eign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmed Nasser Al-Muhammad Al-Sabah
delivered a handwritten letter to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin
Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
The message illustrated the close-knit bilateral brotherly ties
between both countries and their people and means to support and
strengthen these relations across all spectrums, along with recent
developments on the regional and international fronts.
more than the regime’s latest ploy to use its nuclear program to
try to intimidate the international community.”
A spokesman for President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team
declined to comment.
Iran’s decision comes after its parliament passed a bill, later
ap-proved by a constitutional watch-dog, aimed at hiking enrichment
to pressure Europe into providing sanctions relief. It also serves
as pressure ahead of the inaugura-tion of President-elect Biden,
who has said he is willing to re-enter the nuclear deal.
The International Atomic Energy Agency acknowledged Iran had
informed its inspectors of the decision by a letter after news
leaked overnight Friday.
“Iran has informed the agency that in order to comply with a
legal act recently passed by the country’s parliament, the Atomic
Energy Organization of Iran in-tends to produce low-enriched
uranium ... up to 20 percent at the Fordo Fuel Enrichment Plant,”
the IAEA said in a statement.
PlannedThe IAEA added Iran did not
say when it planned to boost enrichment, though the agency “has
inspectors present in Iran on a 24/7 basis and they have regular
access to Fordo.” The parliamentary bill also called on Iran to
expel those inspec-tors, though it appears Tehran still hasn’t
decided to take that step.
Salehi said Iran would need to switch out natural uranium in
centrifuges at Fordo for material already enriched to 4% to begin
the process of going to 20%.
“It should be done under IAEA supervision,” Salehi added.
Since the deal’s collapse, Iran has resumed enrichment at Fordo,
near the Shiite holy city of Qom, some 90 kilometers (55 miles)
southwest of Tehran.
Shielded by the mountains, Fordo is ringed by anti-aircraft guns
and other fortifications. It is about the size of a football field,
large enough to house 3,000 cen-trifuges, but small and hardened
enough to lead U.S. officials to suspect it had a military purpose
when they exposed the site pub-licly in 2009.
The 2015 deal saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment in
ex-change for sanctions relief. The accord also called for Fordo to
be turned into a research-and-devel-opment facility.
Under Iran’s former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadine-jad,
Tehran began 20% enrich-ment. Israel, which has its own undeclared
nuclear weapons pro-gram, feared Tehran was build-ing a bomb.
After the discovery of Fordo, the US worked on so-called “bunker
buster” bombs designed to strike such facilities. As Israel
threatened at one point to bomb Iranian nucle-ar sites like Fordo,
U.S. officials reportedly showed them a video of a bunker-buster
bomb destroying a mock-up of Fordo in America’s southwestern
desert.
Israel, which under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has
continued to criticize Iran’s nuclear program, offered no
im-mediate comment Saturday.
General’s slaying housands of Iraqis converged
on a landmark central square in Baghdad on Sunday to
commem-orate the anniversary of the kill-ing of a powerful Iranian
general and top Iraqi militia leader in a US drone strike.
Roads leading to Tahrir Square were closed off and security was
tight as the crowds gathered in response to a powerful Iraqi
mi-litia’s call for a rally marking the occasion and demanding the
ex-pulsion of US troops from Iraq.
The killing of Gen Qassim So-leimani and Abu Mahdi al-Mu-handis
pushed Tehran and Wash-ington perilously close to all-out conflict
and sparked outrage in Iraq, leading parliament to pass a
non-binding resolution days later calling for the expulsion of all
foreign troops from Iraq.
Sunday’s rally was being held amid heightened tensions between
Iran and the US in the final days of President Donald Trump’s
administration.
Opinion
O GCC leaders, return from Al-Ula with gloryBy Ahmed
Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
TOMORROW, the 41st Gulf Coopera-tion Council (GCC) Summit will
be held in the Saudi city of Al-Ula. This summit is considered to
be a renewal summit in the course of the GCC member states, af-ter
three and a half years of unproductive-ness due to the crisis that
cast a shadow over all the activities of this organization. At some
point it almost led its members towards taking the most difficult
options.
However, since the beginning of this crisis, Kuwait has been
spearhead-ing a positive role, which will today be crowned with the
promised reconciliation at this meeting, which means turning a new
page of relations.
Throughout the crisis, there were me-dia altercations between
the two sides which reached an unprecedented level. Ideally, each
party could have adopted the principle of “Let the one who has
never sinned throw the first stone”.
This assembly was created for the sake of common destiny among
its members. Therefore, a crisis cannot shake its pillars or split
the unity of the ranks among the people of the same house.
The formation of the GCC was based on the idea of the late Amir
of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad during the Am-man Summit in
November 1980. He had presented the idea to the late Saudi King
Fahad bin Abdulaziz, at a time when the solidarity of Arab nations
seemed to wob-ble, prompting the Gulf nations to take a stance that
will render its members a for-midable force when facing
challenges.
Nonetheless, the GCC members need to turn a new page of
relations, and end the media altercations and bickering,
es-pecially regarding what some Qatari offi-cials had said, in a
bid to reopen a wound.
Undoubtedly, there are those who seek to fish in troubled
waters, play on the contradictions of differences in views, and
ferment such differences in order to achieve their evil objectives
of dividing the components of the Gulf society.
In order to put things into perspective, we realized that
everyone is a loser in this crisis, despite the side benefits
achieved by each country.
The State of Qatar was able to compen-sate for the economic and
defense losses, as well as the four countries, but at the ex-pense
of major files and common issues.
Hence, self-compensation is not an alternative in the unitary
collective co-operation. This means, we are today not
searching for the winner or the loser, but about where we are
headed.
Unity is the key to face major chal-lenges facing the region. It
is important to realize that the upcoming challenges do not accept
division or complacency and that the global changes will
undoubtedly affect the entire globe. If the GCC states do not work
to confront them with a uni-fied position, they will be among the
big-gest losers.
In this regard, it is possible to ben-efit from the experience
of the European Union despite the many languages and varied
customs, traditions and even laws. However, it has been able to
face crises, and its governments are superior to inter-nal
contradictions. Despite BREXIT, its structure is still
formidable.
It is true that the Gulf Cooperation Council is not like the
European Union, except that it has more unitary compo-nents than
it, either in terms of unity of language, geography, or the
customs, traditions and family relations among its components, in
addition to the similarity in laws and regulations.
Nonetheless, the storm that has passed should not leave its
effects on this orga-nization. The current efforts should be an
opportunity to re-straighten the compass and avoid the problems
that caused the crisis. In addition, the current vision of the
Qatari government, under the leader-ship of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad,
differs from what it was before.
Tomorrow’s summit is a historic mile-stone in the GCC’s march,
in the presence of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad. This is be-cause what is
important is the return of strength to this organization, and that
its people do not remain locked in intransi-gence views that are
based on the opinions of those who do not see the full picture.
There should be differentiation be-tween private relations of
countries and the general GCC interest. That is why we look at the
Al-Ula summit and hope that it results in progressive decisions and
stances. Let it not be a one-day summit that begins in the morning
and ends in the evening, because the matter at hand deserves the
candle to be burnt from both ends in order to maintain the strength
and unity of the GCC.
Email: [email protected]
Follow me on:
[email protected]
Day by Day
WE bid farewell to 2020. We pray to God Almighty that 2021 will
be better unlike the year gone by which hurt the entire world and
caused a lot of harm.
Nonetheless, we have learned lot of lessons from 2020 – the need
for freedom when the quarantine period shackled us inside our
homes; we learned a lot from the world closed on us for more than a
year.
We pray to God to give us courage to put the ‘trouble-some’ year
behind us – the year that unleashed the virus, brought death and
strife, wars, corruption, thefts and plundered our happiness.
Everything in that year was disturbing, misery ruled the roost.
We pray to God to take away all the viruses from us.
Let it leave with its viruses forever. We pray to God Al-mighty
to spare us because the virus was ‘disturbing’ in every sense of
the word.
... Yet tomorrow is another day.
Zahed Matar
Newswatch
KUWAIT CITY: National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim has
in-vited the government and MPs to the or-dinary sessions slated
for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Items in the agenda of these sessions include approving the
minutes of the pre-vious session, incoming letters, petitions and
complaints, referring the speech of His Highness the Amir Sheikh
Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to the concerned committee which
will draft the response, and reports of various parlia-mentary
committees.
These reports include that of the For-eign Affairs Committee as
follows: fi rst report on the approval on the Constitution of
International Communication Associa-tion for the year 2010, sixth
report on the agreement between Kuwait and Turkey regarding
military drills and trainings, 17th report on military cooperation
be-tween Kuwait and Ukraine, and 18th re-port on commercial marine
navigation co-operation between Kuwait and Morocco.
❑ ❑ ❑
RIYADH: The Saudi Ministry of Inte-rior on Saturday announced
easing the recently adopted coronavirus restrictions, including the
suspension of international fl ights to and from airports across
the Kingdom and the sealing of land and sea ports.
The air, land and sea ports will reopen as from 11:00 am. (local
time) tomorrow, Sunday, with specifi c safety measures be-ing in
place, a senior offi cial of the minis-try said in a press release
late tonight.
The tightened restrictions, stipulated in two statements over
the last two weeks, were part of precautions against the
spread in several countries of a variant of the novel
coronavirus (Covid-19), the source noted.
The Saudi health authorities decided that any non-Saudi national
willing to travel to the Kingdom from the United Kingdom and the
Republic of South Af-rica, has to spend at least two weeks in a
third country considered safer from the mutated virus. (KUNA)
❑ ❑ ❑
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait listed 205 new coronavirus infections and
one virus-relat-ed death on Saturday to raise the total to 151,074
and 937 respectively, the health ministry said.
The number of people hospitalised with the virus currently
stands at 3,147, with 47 of them in intensive care units,
accord-ing to ministry spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad, who
revealed that some 3,245 swab tests were conducted over the last
day out of a total of 1,262,238.
The ministry had earlier reported that some 213 more people had
been cured from the virus over the past day, raising the total of
those to have overcome the disease to 146,990. (KUNA)
❑ ❑ ❑
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait Airways Corpo-ration (KAC) has been
instructed to open ticket reservations for Kuwaitis, their fi rst
degree relatives and domestic workers under their sponsorship to
return from the banned countries, reports Al-Anba daily quoting
reliable sources.
Sources said all the Kuwaitis, who are in the banned countries,
were advised to follow up the developments on the above-mentioned
directive and to return to Ku-wait on the specifi ed dates.
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LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2021
2
‘Difficult to conduct paper-basedexams for 1st semester
students’
Minister stresses on importance of qualified educators
By Abdulrahman Al-ShammariAl-Seyassah Staff and Agencies
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: Dur-ing a meeting between educa-tional
sector leaders and the Minister of Education and Higher Education
Dr Ali Al-Mudhaf recently, an agree-ment was reached regarding the
difficulty of conducting paper-based exams for the first semester
students of all educational levels including high school, in
addition to the inability to conduct ex-aminations through the
on-line system due to technical, professional and educational
reasons, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting informed sources.
They explained that the ministry is planning not to hold exams
next month for all students in different ac-ademic levels, and
instead depend on the continuous assessment grades of the students
gathered through assign-ments, and attendance. Also, the first
semester exam scores will be merged with the scores of the year-end
ex-ams, which are to be paper-based and on the basis of second
semester cur-ricula only.
The attendees of the meeting also discussed the need for
students to grad-ually return to schools from the begin-ning of the
second semester in early March based on a well-thought-out plan,
after obtaining the approval of the health authorities.
The sources revealed that an im-portant meeting will be held
soon by the Education Committee of the Council of Ministers and
officials of the Ministry of Education, to re-view their plans for
examinations and ensure gradual return of students to schools, and
then settle on the final decision.
AppropriateIndicating that all options are open,
the sources affi rmed the keenness of the ministry to take the
most appropri-ate decision for the sake of the educa-tional
process, and in the interest of students.
Meanwhile, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher
Education, Dr Ali Al-Mudhaf has emphasized on the importance of
having a second line of qualifi ed educators to assume the tasks of
supervision, and qualify adminis-trative and educational cadres
with the ability and competence to follow up and continue the
process success-fully, pointing out that the ministry was and is
still keen to take serious steps to strengthen development plans
and qualify the functional and supervisory leaderships.
Dr Al-Mudhaf said this during a ceremony which was held to honor
the graduates of the twelfth batch of the Academy for Leadership
Prepa-ration of the Kuwait Teachers As-sociation recently which was
held atthe Sheikh Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah hall at the
Society’s head-quarters.
“There are plans drawn up and approved programs in line with the
policies aimed at advancing our educational process, and to achieve
its desired goals in order to fill va-cancies with qualified
professional personnel, who are distinguished for competence,
knowledge and experi-ence,” said the minister.
He pointed out the change is the year of life, and one of the
prudence is keenness on communicating genera-tions and investing in
the experiences and accumulated achievements, noting that the
Kuwait Teachers Association (KTA) is a major tributary and partner
that contributes to supporting the edu-cational process and plays a
prominent role in supporting the educational sys-tem.
ImpactHe added the training courses held
by the association in cooperation with the Center for Community
Service and Continuing Education at the Kuwait University have a
positive impact on educational administration, and “we hope them to
continue and expand,” said Al-Mudhaf.
He continued, saying: “I am pleased to send a bouquet of thanks,
gratitude and appreciation to the teachers and all employees of the
Ministry of Education for their responsibility and their strenu-ous
efforts which they exerted during the Corona pandemic at Kuwait
Uni-versity.”
The head of the KTA, Mutei Al-Ajami, said that the Academy
contin-ued its distinction this year, through its purposeful and
rich courses and activities, and with the participation of a group
of lecturers and specialists, despite the challenges and diffi
culties in light of the decisions and preventive measures that were
taken by the Coun-cil of Ministers to confront the spread of the
Coronavirus pandemic and work on completing the second semester of
the academy ONLINE in cooperation with the Center for Community
Service and Continuing Education at Kuwait University.
KUNA photoInformation Minister Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi during his
visit to the house
of artist Al-Mufarrej.
Photo by Rizk TaufiqMinister of Housing Dr Ma’arafi with
Al-Hajri and Al-Badi.
‘It looks like vehicles are crossing a minefield’
Residents of Khaitan area complain ofMPW’s negligence to repair
the roadsKUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: Whoever is led by his bad luck to
visit Khai-tan area to follow up something will assert that this
area does not belong to Kuwait, even though this country is
classifi ed among the richest in the world.
This is due to the level of deteri-oration of the main and inner
roads in this area, despite the high degree of activity due to the
presence of commercial complexes and invest-ment buildings, as well
as service buildings for providing services to citizens and
residents, reports Al-Rai daily.
During a tour by the daily, sev-eral citizens and residents did
not exaggerate when they described the state of the area’s streets
as “bad”.
They said, “When we watch the movement of cars on these streets,
we feel as if the drivers of these vehicles are crossing a minefi
eld due to the many deep potholes that fi ll the streets, specifi
cally from the Khaitan entrance sign on the Airport Road, through
the police station roundabout and the police station street, and
until all the inner streets in the area.”
A number of residents of the area urged offi cials of the
Ministry of Public Works to play their role in working on the
maintenance of these roads, as they have not been maintained for
more than ten years. They expressed surprise that these streets
were left for several years without maintenance.
In this regard, Rashid Al-Duwai-hi said, “We regret that the
streets of Khaitan area, which is among the old areas of Kuwait and
is in-habited by a large number of citi-zens and expatriates, are
in such a bad situation.
When I go through the police
station roundabout from any direc-tion, I feel as if I am going
through a minefi eld due to the many deep potholes located in the
streets of the area”.
Al-Duwaihi asked the Ministry of Public Works offi cials to put
the area among their priorities like other areas of Kuwait, and not
to let it become the second Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh.
He said, “This area has large commercial complexes with
inter-national brands that are only inter-ested in maintaining
their streets.”
Furthermore, Ayman Mustafa said, “Since the time I came to
Kuwait in 2010, the area’s streets have remained the same. In fact,
they have gotten worse because of the lack of maintenance.
The traffi c on the main and side streets of the area is very
dense due to the huge population that resides in the area”.
In addition, Fahd Al-Otaibi said, “I wish the concerned
au-thority would maintain at least
the entrances to the area and its main streets. It could, in a
later period, complete the maintenance of the side streets.
Neglecting the main streets indicates to us that the area is far
from the concerns of the Ministry of Public Works’ officials.”
Many of those whom the dai-ly met said they hoped that the
ministry would at least fill the deep pits that are prevalent on
the main streets, until the signing of maintenance contracts, as it
is inconceivable that the ministry is unable to fill the pits that
cause major breakdowns for the cars of the motorists.
Informed sources said the State Audit Bureau approved the
main-tenance of one of three practices that were previously put
forward for the maintenance of the main streets in all six
governorates, add-ing that it is expected that the min-istry will
this week obtain the ap-proval of the bureau regarding the
remaining two tenders.
Photo by Sameer ShiqerVehicles move slow due to the potholes in
one of the streets.
‘Singer Al-Mufarrej documented folklore’Kuwait’s Information
Minister Ab-dulrahman Al-Mutairi said Sun-day iconic singer
Abdulaziz Al-Mufarrej, also known as Shadi Al-Khaleej, contributed
to docu-mentation of folkloric songs and “genuine Kuwait
tradition.”
Al-Mutairi, also Minister of State for Youth and head of the
National Council of Culture, Art and Letters (NCCAL), said
Al-Mufarrej “is highly regarded within the artistic movement in
Kuwait, Gulf and Arab regions because of his distinguished works he
presented throughout
the years.”Al-Mutairi made the remarks
while visiting Al-Mufarrej, board chairman of Kuwait artists
society, at his home to inquire about his health condition.
Kuwaitis, he said, remembered Al-Mufarrej as a lead singer in
na-tional operettas and indeed “set-ting an example in giving.”
The minister urged young art-ists to follow the lead of those
iconic artists like Al-Mufarrej.
Al-Mufarrej thanked Al-Mutairi for his visit which showed his
sup-port to artists. (KUNA)
Minister vows to up credit bank’s capital
Bid to operate diesel generators
Dr Ma’arafi meets Mutla’a Cityresidents to know their views
MEW signs KD 4.4 million contract
By Abdul Nasser Al-AslamiAl-Seyassah Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: Minister of State for Housing Affairs and
Min-ister of State for Services Affairs, Dr Abdullah Ma’arafi , met
a number of volunteer committees from various housing projects to
exchange views, fi nd out their requirements, respond to their
inquiries about the future of their cities and future residential
ar-eas, and listen to the most prominent problems and obstacles
facing the people in the Al Mutla’a residential city project.
The head of the voluntary commit-tees in the city of Mutla’a,
Mishaal Al-Hajri, said Minister Dr Ma’arafi has promised to raise
the capital of the Kuwaiti Credit Bank so that all residents of Al
Mutla’a City can ben-efi t from construction loans and start
building houses on their plots. He called on everyone to be
completely reassured of this aspect.
RequirementsAl-Hajri said all the requirements
of the Al-Mutla’a residential city project were presented with
full trans-parency during the meeting, and “we explained to the
minister the impor-tance of speed in taking the neces-sary
decisions towards the needs of Al-Mutla’a City and the consequent
positive effects on more than 28,000 families who have been waiting
for long years, as it was discussed to open the issue of loan.”
The minister promised to solve this problem in addition to
amend-ing the bylaw so that the rental al-lowance continues to be
paid to the citizen during the coming days af-ter the New Year’s
vacation.
During the meeting, Al-Hajri stressed on the opening of the
auto-mated system for the people of Sub-urb N6 – owners of 2,445
plots, and the distribution in the upper part of Suburb N7 owners
of 730 plots, who
are within the fi rst phase of the Al-Mutla’a residential city
project.
The owners of these plots have been waiting since Dec 2, 2020,
to the present day to get an appoint-ment to go to the Public
Authority for Housing Welfare to receive the ‘To Whom It May
Concern’ certifi -cates addressed to both the Kuwait Municipality
and the Credit Bank to help the owners of these plots to complete
the procedures for issuing building permits and start construc-tion
on their plots of land.
InjusticeFor his part, a member of the Al-
Mutla’a Residential City Residents Committee, Misha’al Al-Badi,
said: We have presented to the min-ister all the late matters,
foremost of which is the injustice that befalls a large segment of
the people of Al-Mutla’a residential city, who are the owners of
the plots located in the suburb N6 and the two dis-tributions in
the upper part of the suburb N7.
For his part, the head of the Al Mutla’a People’s Committee,
Khaled Al-Anzi, said the minister has been to address the Minister
of Municipality to know the timetable for granting building orders
to citi-zens and to address all concerned parties to determine
their readiness to meet the city’s multiple needs, such as water
purifi cation stations, electricity, landscaping, and others.
He added, the committee has called for increasing the number of
people who are called to re-ceive building permits from a hun-dred
citizens daily to two hundred at least, taking into account that
the number of plots of land in the Mutla’a City project is 28,288,
a number that cannot be compared to the number of other projects as
it is the fi rst project awaiting building orders in terms of
drawing lots and distribution of lots.
By Muhammad GhanemAl-Seyassah Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: Director of the Emergency Services
Depart-ment in the Electrical Distribution Networks Sector, Eng
Adel Mah-moud, announced that the ministry has signed a contract to
transport and operate diesel power generators with a local
company.
Eng Mahmoud said in a press statement the cost of the contract
is 4,409,000 dinars. The contract in-cludes 22 ‘truck’ heads to
transport power generators of various sizes from their sites to
areas that are ex-posed to emergency outages beyond the control of
the ministry, as well as 10 ‘diesel tankers’, as well as providing
a supply service to diesel backup generators.
He mentioned that the Distribu-
tion Networks Sector represented by the Emergency Department
held the preliminary meeting for the tender for the supply of 44
generators of various sizes. During the meeting, inquiries were
answered by repre-sentatives of companies that wish to compete to
win the tender.
He explained the aforementioned tender includes the supply of 12
generators of 180 kV, 12 generators of 320 kV, and 12 generators of
500 kV, in addition to 8 generators of 1800 kV.
He said the Emergency Services Department is the last line of
de-fense for the Ministry of Electricity and Water, through which
the power outage areas are provided with the necessary electrical
energy, until the faults are repaired and power is re-stored
through the network, describ-ing it as the ministry’s ‘fi rst
aid’.
-
LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2021
3
‘Split opposition can’t match govt’“THE opposition, which is
shrinking will continue to shrink when the rest of the papers of
some of its affi li-ates are exposed in the fi rst upcoming
grilling or when voting on any popular or government laws, and I am
cer-tain that only 15 members will remain from the entire
opposition which once boasted of more than 40 mem-bers,” columnist
Za’ar Al-Rashidi wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“In short, the government can question itself, to be more
precise, the government can easily ask one of the pro-government
MPs to submit a grilling request against any one of the ministers
and see the results.
“Of course, in order to mix the papers, it is better for the
interrogation to target a minister whose family or tribe has a big
number of MPs, especially if they are among those affi liated with
the opposition, so the gov-ernment in this way will shuffl e the
cards and hit the opposition in an early political killing, which
will result in the popular interrogation of the opposition or at
least dismantle it.
“The previous government had resorted to this trick in the 2016
Assembly, of course not with ac-curacy but with the same
princi-ple.
“The idea is to interrogate yourself before they question you,
or based on the rule ‘if they question you, then question your-self
and mix up their papers’ so that you confuse them.
“The politically or intellectu-ally inconsistent opposition is
un-able to confront the government. Rather, the opposition has lost
all its political battles with the government so far and will lose
in the coming days because it is multi-sectarian and not a single
ideological fabric with which it can face a united and coherent
government.
“The main and basic condition for the success of any opposition
in the world is that it be of one color, and its members are
intellectually affi liated with it and at least work under one
leadership.
“As for an opposition formed from a political and in-tellectual
mixture, including the independent, partisan, ideological and
tribal cannot succeed, neither politically or otherwise.
“More precisely, a political bloc of 4 members who are
politically agreed on the principles, goals and visions is dozens
of times better than a mixed opposition made up of half the
Assembly.
“Now, do you know the reason for the repeated loss of the new
opposition? Do you know the reason for gov-ernment supremacy?
“The current opposition will gradually shift from the form of
collective opposition that it takes now to the in-dividual
opposition, and this matter will take place dur-ing the current
session, and with the fi rst interrogation, more of the opposition
papers will be revealed that are already non-consistent and will
lose their weight and will diminish in numbers over the coming
days.
“In the event any of the opposition members present an
interrogation now, another interrogation will follow, and the title
will be ‘Made in the Government’.”
Also:“Unfortunately, the National Assembly of 2020 is de-
void of all features and the performance is clear from the
beginning as it does not live up to the level of ambi-tion and
aspirations. It is too restricted and captive and unable to
encounter the embarrassing situations and events. This is quite
evident and confi rmed by request-ing investigation committees
which we know and they know the end well, but we say it is
arrogance and obsti-nacy, devoid of content and goal,” columnist
Abdulaziz Khuraibet wrote for Al-Shahed daily.
“In this current situation, we do not blame any MPs but rather
we blame the voter who elected them moti-vated by the illusion of
change, while some of them do not have any qualifi cation,
political experience, or abil-ity to act in real positions.
“Such representatives just want to prove that they play their
role within each of the National Assembly sessions in every
situation and event without the need to record a serious and
explicit position in rejecting and denouncing what is happening,
and this may also hap-pen in the future.
“It is not strange if the MP does not know how to exercise his
right guaranteed by the constitution, for some of them do not care
about reading the Constitu-tion, the law, the articles or the
internal regulations, but are concerned with one issue without
realizing any other consequences and dimensions, and so on. The
political agendas are almost empty of the content in addition they
are chaotic and messy.
“It is unfortunate that some MPs disappointed the na-tion from
the fi rst meeting and not from the session, and still do not know
their basic roles in the National As-sembly. I was surprised that
after a week of the elections to the post of the Speaker of the
Parliament, some par-liamentarians are still unable to make a
decision, express an opinion and overcome the situation and the
embar-rassment in which they were put in front of the voters,
others are still subject to controversy and convictions as they
still think about whether a person acts out of free will or is
forced to act according to the will of the others and this is
evident because of the lack of clarifi cation of the position and
opinion.
“Some become emotional to escape the public scenar-io via
interaction in the virtual world and social media platforms by
declaring a state of rejection, condemna-tion and resentment and
raising the banner of battles, but in reality they are not what
they portray to be.
“We must say here that the atmosphere of the Na-tional Assembly
of 2020 lacks the spirit of democracy,
direction that leads to isolation, barren convergence and
dissonance with every topic, event and situation to which the life
of a Kuwaiti is tied. We explicitly say that some MPs who got
elected to the 2020 have failed in every area.”
❑ ❑ ❑
“Unfortunately, it is shameful for the National As-sembly
sessions to have such a disappointing start, shat-tering the hopes
of many patriots in this country. Former lawmakers and ministers
were even prevented from at-tending the opening session in which
His Highness the Amir and His Highness the Crown Prince were
present,” columnist Saoud Al-Jinfawi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“At the same time, hundreds of young people were al-lowed to
attend the session, while many elderly and sane people were
deprived of the chance to attend. This led to chaos that never
happened before. Opening sessions are supposed to bear a
celebratory character, dominated by the spirit of optimism and hope
for a better future for the people who are still suffering from the
effects of corruption that many have acknowledged. Some have an
offi cial or popular capacity, or they are interested in local
political affairs from outside Kuwait, such as the international
organizations or media.
“If democracy is contaminated with corruption and controlled by
the corrupt, we will not achieve develop-ment or progress. The only
solution is to eradicate cor-ruption from the roots which are in
the form of certain ideas, methods and political practice.
Corruption takes without giving anything to the nation.
“The democratic path must return to the right direction that
gives hope to the people, not pain. Our democracy is real, not a
farce that is used to achieve wealth for certain individuals
instead of prosperity for all the people.”
❑ ❑ ❑
“In a video clip that was uploaded recently, someone advised MP
Badr Al-Dhahoum to neither cooperate nor hold hands with some
groups in the Kuwaiti society towards the end of such a hateful
speech,” columnist Osama Safar wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“My conversation today is not with the person who owns the
video. Even if I interview him for years, he would not change his
opinion which he grew up with and that is another story. I direct
my speech to the wise people of this country. Is it not surprising
that until the writing of this article, we did not hear the voice
of MP Badr Al-Dahoum, who represents the nation, including all of
the groups?
“The most surprising and confusing aspect is the
parliament-government silence towards those who un-dermine our
national unity. We did not hear any reaction except the silence of
the graves!
“As for the lawmakers - one of whom was mentioned, it seems
there is nothing wrong with the abovemen-tioned incident … as if it
is ‘normal’. I did not read to them even a single statement in this
regard, knowing that these MPs benefi t directly from the votes of
their constituents and this is normal.
“It is really disgusting for someone to show such a scene after
all the documented history on the love of the people for their
country - Sunnis, Shiites, urbanites and Bedouins - and their
heroic sacrifi ces. It is really sad that the voice of extremism is
heard, but the saddest aspect is the governmental/parliamentary
silence.”
❑ ❑ ❑
“Jahra is one of the largest and most populated gover-norates in
Kuwait, yet it laden with shortcomings,” col-umnist Talal Al-Enezi
wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“The governorate has neither entertainment facilities nor
beaches, but it is surrounded by many health and en-vironmental
time bombs such as landfi lls, tyres, camps and others. Even the
beautiful projects are neither com-pleted nor operated
properly.
“For example, the new Jahra Hospital which was commissioned by
His Highness the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, is indeed a huge
urban edifi ce, but it has not been fully operational until now
even if it is ready.
“Some experts told me that all departments are ready for
operation, but the Ministry of Health does not want to receive the
building. The hospital consists of more than 110 wards but only 10
have been operational. The rest are ready but not operational. The
most important wards that should be operating now include casualty,
intensive care, internal medicine, cardiology and others.
“In fact, a building of this size was not used before. The fi
rst thing they wanted to do was turn it into a quar-antine center
for corona patients who were transferred to the old hospital after
the complaints and pressure from some parties.”
❑ ❑ ❑
“The supplementary session or the so-called special session for
the election of National Assembly commit-tees witnessed some
practices that do not call for op-timism in electing the
chairpersons, rapporteurs and members of these committees!”
columnist Dr Moham-mad Al-Dowaihees wrote for Al-Shahed daily.
“In general, there was no selection of the right per-son in the
right place as the committees rather encour-aged unpleasant
partisan, tribal and sectarian trends and currents. The interests
of the homeland or the citizens were not taken into consideration
in choosing the chair-persons, rapporteurs and members of these
committees. This has prompted some members to withdraw from the
committees as soon as they were formed!
“One of the very specialized committees elected someone who
holds an intermediate certifi cate as its chairperson while another
member holds a doctorate de-gree in the fi eld that the committee
oversees!”
— Compiled by Ahmad Al-Shazli
Al-Rashidi‘Asphalting of roads damagedby ’18, recent rains
continues’
King Fahd Highway priority: PART
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: The Public Authority for Roads and
Transportation (PART) con-tinues the asphalt pavement works on
several highways as per the seven maintenance con-tracts it signed
earlier, in addition to other road works in compliance with the
offi cial di-rective to quickly repair and maintain roads
throughout the country, reports Al-Jarida daily quoting
sources.
Sources revealed there are four contracts for mainte-nance works
on King Fahd Road – contract numbers 418, 419, 420 and 421 – as
this is one of the most vital high-ways that witnesses high traffi
c volume throughout the day, considering it serves densely
populated residential areas. Sources said this road needs
maintenance works and repair of damaged parts, especially the areas
affected by heavy rains in November 2018.
Sources affi rmed the authority is keen on repairing damages on
highways; disclosing the fi fth contract (number 324) is for
the repair and maintenance of the Sixth Ring Road, the sixth
contract (number 398) is for Fahaheel Expressway, and the seventh
contract is for the Fifth Ring, Ghazali, Old Jahra roads and
others.
Sources added the mainte-nance works on the highways doubled
during the curfew pe-riod as the authority was keen on taking
advantage of the period to complete the main-tenance and repair of
roads all over the country.
TreatmentMeanwhile, the Kuwait
Oil Company (KOC) sent about 900 questions to local and
international contrac-tors that are participating in the
environmental treatment project for oil-polluted soil as a result
of the brutal Iraqi invasion, which is part of the United Nations’
environmen-tal treatment program, reports Al-Anba daily.
According to offi cial sourc-es, KOC has sent inquiries to the
contractors about the pre-vious work they carried out in cleaning
the oil-contaminated soil and the most prominent methods used in
treatment, in addition to meeting the tech-nical standards in order
to consider the offers previously submitted.
The company has received bids from contractors for the north
Kuwait and south Ku-wait contracts for drilling, transportation and
processing activities. The project aims to build two untreatable
waste dumps, which include wet oil lakes and dry oil lakes, with
the basic capacity of each landfi ll being one million cu-bic
meters.
The objective of the two contracts is to treat about 13 million
cubic meters of oil-contaminated soil.
The sources affi rmed the continued commitment of KOC to
preserve the environ-ment, health and safety, and enhance knowledge
and un-derstanding of environmental rehabilitation.
Girl precedes boy
24 babies on Jan 1KUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: Hospitals in the country
recorded the birth of 24 babies on the fi rst day of 2021; fi rst
is a Kuwaiti baby girl born at 12:01 am in Farwaniya Hos-pital,
second is a Kuwaiti baby boy born at 1:04 am in Adan Hospital,
third is an Egyptian baby boy born at 1:15 am in Jah-ra Hospital
and fourth is a baby - whose nationality and gender were not
revealed - born at 2:04 am in the Maternity Hospital, reports
Al-Anba daily.
Farwaniya Hospital recorded the high-est number of babies born
on Jan 1, 2021 - eight, followed by Jahra Hospital with seven, Adan
Hospital with fi ve and Mater-nity Hospital with four.
A total of nine Kuwaiti babies were born - three of whom were
born in Adan Hospital along with 14 expatriates and one Bedoun;
while the number of baby boys reached 14 compared to 10 baby
girls.
No twins were born on the fi rst day of the year and the methods
of delivery were normal and Cesarean section.
Other Voices
KUNA photoHis Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled
Al-Hamad Al-Sabah received recently the President of State Audit
Bureau (SAB) Faisal Al-Shaya. During the meeting, Al-Shaya
presented His Highness a copy of the
annual report of the Audit Bureau fi scal year 2019/2020.
(KUNA)
KPC to extend tenure of offi cialswhose services expire end of
JanKUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: The Board of Di-rectors of Kuwait Petroleum
Corporation decided to extend the tenure of offi cials, whose
services in the corporation’s sub-sidiaries will be terminated by
the end of January 2021, reports Al-Anba daily quot-ing a reliable
source.
According to the source, the tenure ex-tension decision covers
three offi cials at the level of chief executive offi cer in oil
companies and whose services will con-clude by the end of December
2020.
“The extension is aimed at making the appropriate comparison
between the leadership positions or for the Council of Ministers to
decide to extend further the tenure of the concerned offi cials,”
the source added.
Meanwhile, the Civil Service Commis-sion (CSC) revealed that
1,188 Kuwaiti teachers are qualifi ed to work in the Min-istry of
Education in fi ve fi elds of speciali-zation -- Islamic Sharia,
History, Geogra-phy, Psychology and Philosophy, reports Al-Qabas
daily.
The CSC asked the ministry to deter-mine its manpower needs with
the afore-mentioned specializations and to ensure that only
Kuwaitis will be appointed to fi ll up such vacancies.
The daily obtained a copy of CSC’s let-
ter to the ministry, stating that the central employment data
confi rmed the presence of Kuwaitis who are qualifi ed to address
the ministry’s need for teachers with the above-mentioned
specializations, including other jobs currently occupied by
non-Kuwaitis.
The CSC then gave a breakdown of qualifi ed Kuwaiti teachers for
the follow-ing subjects: Islamic Sharia – 463, His-tory – 186,
Geography – 283, Psychology – 150 and Philosophy – 106.
And , the Financial Sector at the Min-istry of Education
continues its efforts to review and audit the lists of staff
entitled to the excellent performance bonus, including
administrators and teachers -- around 89,000 in the head offi ce
and educational districts, reports Al-Anba daily quoting
sources.
Sources disclosed the sector is ex-pected to complete its review
and audit tasks within this week, indicating the lists will be
referred to the fi nancial observers for fi nal approval and then
to the Central Bank of Kuwait to pave way for disburse-ment.
Sources said the decision to reduce the ministry’s budget by 20
percent for the current year does not include the excellent
performance bonus , indicating the minis-try has allocated a KD 55
million for this purpose.
KUNA photoHH the Kuwaiti Amir’s representative Foreign Minister
Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mo-hammad Al-Sabah delivers a written message to
His Highness the King of Bahrain.
-
LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2021
4
Photo by Mohammad MorsiPassengers arrive in Kuwait after the
resumption of fl ights on Jan 2. DGCA had closed the Kuwait
International Airport from Dec 22nd until Jan 1 in view of the
rising number of COVID cases.
Kuwait resumes commercial fl ights with ban on ‘high risk’
countriesCommercial fl ights at Kuwait International Airport
resumed on Saturday af-ter a brief suspension sparked by fears over
importing a new strain of the coronavirus, the civil aviation
authority said on Thursday.
A travel ban on the nationals of some 35 countries Kuwait has
regarded as “high risk” due to the spread of the coronavirus will
remain intact, said Assistant Director General for Airport Affairs
Saleh Al-Fadaghi, adding the
measure aims to avoid any strain on the country’s healthcare
system.A series of precautionary measures airline passengers were
urged to
adhere to still be enforced, the offi cial clarifi ed, saying
registration on the website kuwaitmosafer.com is the fi rst step
for nationals wishing to travel, before obtaining a travel
insurance document that contains medical cover for COVID-19.
A negative COVID-19 test may also be mandatory depending on the
traveler’s fi nal destination, he added, while incoming passengers
are re-quired to provide negative PCR test results conducted within
96 hours from the date of arrival.
A 14-day home quarantine will be imposed on all arrivals in
Kuwait in line with established health protocols, he emphasized.
(KUNA)
KUNA photoHH the Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah received re-
cently, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled
Al-Sabah.
‘Offshore Drilling Project’ symposium held
Marine oil production delayed by ten years, says KOC’s
AjmiKUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: Director of Ex-ploration Group at Kuwait
Oil Company (KOC) Mohammad Dawas Al-Ajmi says the production
operations in the sea will not happen in ten years from now, in the
best case, as the current drilling opera-tions carried out by the
company will take three years from the start of the contract signed
with Halliburton and so far is un-specifi ed after the spread of
the COV-ID-19 pandemic, reports Al-Anba daily.
He said, “After the drilling process and the start of oil
exploration, the company will develop these wells and dig new ones
to determine the volume of production. Later, work on oil
installations from pro-duction lines and collection centers will
begin to complete the oil infrastructure to deal with production
from the sea.
During a symposium titled “Offshore Drilling Project” organized
by the Public Relations and Information Department of the Ministry
of Oil recently, Al-Ajmi said the COVID-19 pandemic caused delay in
the start of the offshore drilling project execution to discover
oil in Kuwaiti re-gional and commercial waters, which was scheduled
to start in July 2020.
ExplorationsHe explained that marine exploration
operations in Kuwait are not new. At-tempts were made in the
past, specifi cally in the 1980s or before. In 2013 and 2014, the
company carried out a seismic survey of the entire marine area,
which covered about 6,000-7,000 square kilometers, us-ing the
world’s best technology in marine survey.
The Kuwait Oil Company has identifi ed the drilling of six
offshore wells, three of which are chalk reservoirs and three other
Jurassic wells. The company has set a pe-riod of one year from the
signing of the contract to start the offshore drilling. The offi
cial operations were scheduled to start in July 2020, but this
period coincided with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which
has negatively affected the project. The company is currently
working with the contractor to prepare towers and logistical
matters including equipping the port.
Al-Ajmi said, “Halliburton had provid-ed some initial dates for
the commence-
ment of business during the next year, as we expect that the
logistical operations will start soon”.
When asked about the delay in the con-tract, which has so far
reached about six months, he said, “This matter is under review and
scrutiny by Kuwait Oil Com-pany, since contractual matters, whether
from delaying work or canceling the con-tract, are left to the
concerned authorities in the company. They are contractual le-gal
matters affecting a group of contracts and projects”.
However, Al-Ajmi stressed that the op-tion to cancel the
contract is not on the table so far, but rather the delay in
imple-mentation.
ImpactRegarding the extent of the impact of
the COVID-19 pandemic on the fi nancial cost of the project as a
whole or changing the studies on seismic surveys, Al-Ajmi explained
that the Exploration Group, since 2014, carried out the seismic
sur-veys of the Kuwait Sea. During the fol-lowing years, specifi
cally in 2017 and 2018, the surveys were studied, and the best
results were drawn based on these results.
Any delay or cancellation of the project will not affect those
studies in which the latest international technology was used. The
company does not have any study or expectation to obtain better fi
nancial prices from the contractors in the event of cance-ling the
project and obtaining new fi nan-cial offers from international
companies.
Al-Ajmi stressed that the marine area is considered a “virgin”
area, which is promising for oil production in Kuwait in the
future, adding that it needs billions of investments to take
advantage of this tre-mendous potential.
He stated that the Kuwait Oil Company has identifi ed six
exploration wells that are not productive for offshore drilling,
and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has set, within the 2040
strategy, a vir-tual number for production from the sea of about
80,000-100,000 barrels per day, and this number does not represent
the actual number of future production from the sea.
More than 78 ‘top’ positionslying vacant in MEW sectors
New power minister pushes for launching delayed tenders
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: According to supervi-sory reports, there are
more than 78 vacant su-pervisory and leadership positions in the
Ministry of Education, They vary between head of depart-ment,
superintendent, director of administra-tion and general director in
various sectors in the ministry’s headquarters and the six
educational zones, reports Al-Qabas daily.
In this regard, informed sourc-es explained that some of these
jobs remain unoccupied for years but the time has come to fi ll
them all with national com-petencies and deserving employ-ees,
especially since they include highly sensitive positions linked to
millions of tenders, and their continuation is extremely
dan-gerous.
According to the audit and re-view work of the State Audit
Bu-reau, the ministry did not fi ll some supervisory positions in
various organizational units. Necessary measures were not taken to
fi ll them in accordance with the pro-visions of CSC’s resolution
No. 25/2006, as they were occupied under assignment basis for long
periods in some units, which re-sults in weak internal control.
This is because the assignees are responsible for other supervisory
functions, which is not consistent with the huge number of
employ-ees and the large number of organ-izational units within the
organiza-tional structure of the Ministry of Education.
OccupyingThe sources explained that the
State Audit Bureau stressed the need for occupying all
supervisory positions in accordance with the provisions of the
aforementioned CSC resolution in order to avoid weak internal
control and disrupt the functioning of these units. Not occupying
these positions is a vio-lation that has been repeated in the
Ministry of Education during the past years and must be
avoided.
The most prominent supervi-sory and leadership positions in the
ministry that have been vacant for almost three years are the
po-sitions of directors of Mubarak Al-Kabeer, Capital and Jahra
edu-cational zones, Director General of the Department of Private
Edu-cation, Director of Educational Affairs, Director of
Coordination and Follow-up Department of Public Education, and the
Director of Planning Department.
There are a number of admin-istrations, directorates and
de-partments with vacancies in the six educational zones especially
Jahra, Farwaniya, Capital and Mubarak Al-Kabeer. About 11 vacancies
have remained open in the information systems depart-ment for more
than four years, ten vacancies in the educational development and
activities sector, six in the fi nancial sector and fi ve in the
educational facilities sector, planning and others.
The sources stressed the neces-sity of fi lling these vacancies
as soon as possible, in order to pre-
serve the interest of work, and contribute to creating job
stability and development of work.
They said the Public Education sector, in its response to the
State Audit Bureau, affi rmed its keen-ness to fi ll all vacant
supervisory positions, as a ministerial decision was issued on
December 31, 2019 with additional conditions and rules for
occupying supervisory positions and the procedures for occupying
them.
The sources said, “The coun-try’s exposure to the COVID-19
pandemic and the disruption of work in government departments led
to the delay in announcing these jobs. Upon resumption of work, the
Public Education sector
has been keen to take the neces-sary measures towards
announc-ing vacant supervisory jobs in the educational areas and
the depart-ments affi liated with it”.
Meanwhile, Minister of Oil, and Minister of Electricity and
Water Dr Muhammad Al-Fares has made his fi rst impression in the
Ministry of Electricity and Water by coor-dinating with the Central
Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) to push for the launch of the
minis-try’s delayed tenders, reports Al-Rai daily.
According to reliable sources, the concerned apparatus held an
extraordinary meeting recently at the Ministry of Electricity and
Water to discuss 56 items from the
terms of the ministry’s tenders, with the aim of urgently
putting them forward and determining the reasons they were
delayed.
One of the most important items that was discussed was the
tenders related to electrical power stations and water stations for
the mainte-nance and modernization of equip-ment and others.
In addition, Minister Dr Al-Fares discussed with the minis-try’s
undersecretaries and mem-bers of the technical team the fi nal
report about the demand for electricity and water for the next
twenty years. The ministry’s plan to meet the demand was reviewed
in line with statistical and scien-tifi c models.
Photo by Bassam Abu ShanabNew Year revelers enjoying themselves
at the Marina Mall fl outing the rules of social distancing and
the
wearing of face masks.
HH sends congratulations to Cuba, Sudan
Amir writes to Oman’s ruler on tiesKUWAIT CITY, Jan 3, (KUNA):
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has
written a letter recently, to Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq
Al-Said over bilateral relations, in addition to current happenings
around the world.
Omani Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers Fahad
bin Mahmoud Al-Said received the letter in hand.
The letter, intended for the Omani rul-er was handed over by His
Highness the Amir’s envoy, Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser
Al-Sabah, who high-lighted a desire to push ties between the Arab
Gulf neighbors even further.
Meanwhile, His Highness the Amir sent a cable on Friday to the
Cuban Presi-dent Miguel Daz-Canel, congratulating him on his
country’s National Day.
His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled
Al-Hamad Al-Sa-bah sent similar cables. Also, His High-ness the
Amir sent a cable on Friday to the President of Sudan’s sovereign
Coun-cil Abdulfattah Al-Burhan, congratulat-ing him on his
country’s National Day.
His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Prime
Minister sent similar cables.
MoH to install eye scanner system to record entry, exit of all
its employees
Bid to determine number of staff in healthcare centers
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: Accord-ing to reliable health sources, the
Ministry of Health has completed all procedures for installing an
eye scanner system in all its facilities and launching its
operation soon with the aim of recording the en-try and exit of
employees, reports Aljarida daily.
They explained that the eye scanner system will be linked to the
integrated systems of the Civil Service Commission (CSC). It will
be implemented in the min-istry’s headquarters in Sulaibikhat area,
and then in all health zones, hospitals and health centers.
The use of the eye scanner sys-tem comes within the framework of
the ministry’s efforts for imple-menting digital
transformation.
With the spread of the COV-ID-19 pandemic, the suspension of the
fi ngerprint scanner system was among the precautionary measures
taken by the ministry to preserve the health safety of all its
employees, necessitating resorting to other alternatives to record
the attendance of employees in health authorities.
The sources affi rmed that sur-veillance cameras will be
installed
on all eye scanner devices in order to monitor any violations in
the process of implementing the deci-sion.
They stressed that those suffer-ing from severe or moderate
intel-lectual disability will be exempted from the eye scanner
system, pro-vided that they submit evidence from the Public
Authority for Dis-abled Affairs to affi rm that their disability
does not enable them to use the scanner to record their
at-tendance.
Meanwhile, Health Ministry Undersecretary Dr Mustafa Reda issued
an administrative deci-sion on the formation of a team tasked to
determine the number of administrative staff in primary healthcare
centers with the direc-tor of Mubarak Al-Kabeer Health District as
team leader, director of Sabah Specialized Medical Dis-trict as
assistant team leader and some medical experts as mem-bers, reports
Al-Jarida daily.
Article Two of administrative decree number 6485 specifi es the
points of reference for the team to determine the number of
ad-ministrative staff in the primary healthcare centers in each
health
district including accountants, legal workers, public relations,
transaction executors, informa-tion systems, those paid as per the
work done. The team shall prepare the list of administrative staff;
along with the supporting data such as academic qualifi ca-tions,
nature of work, work his-tory and date of transfer to the current
work place.
The team will also identify the actual need for administrative
staff in the primary healthcare centers, in addition to
implement-ing a mechanism for the distribu-tion of administrative
employees in line with the actual manpower needs of primary
healthcare cent-ers and other facilities of the ministry in a bid
to improve the quality of services offered to the public.
Article Three of the decision states that the team shall work
for one month, indicating that Civil Service Commission Resolution
No. 40 of 2016 on the organiza-tion of work teams in government
agencies shall be applied to this team which will submit a report
on the results and recommenda-tions to the undersecretary.
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LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2021
5
KUNA photoHis Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled
Al-Hamad Al-Sabah is pictured with the leadership, senior officials
during his visit to the
Kuwait National Guard headquarters.
KNG ‘vital’ part of security, defenseapparatus in times of need,
says PM
Fire-fighters efforts during pandemic wins praise
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 3, (KUNA): The Kuwait National Guard (KNG) is a
vital part of the country’s security and defense apparatus
especially during the times of need, said His Highness the Prime
Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
Speaking during his visit to the KNG General Command, His
Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled congratulated the new Deputy Chief
of KNG (retired General) Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah on attain-ing his post.
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled, who was received by Sheikh Ahmad
Al-Nawaf and KNG Undersecretary Lieut-General Hashem Al-Refaei,
affirmed that the position of KNG Deputy Chief was a position of
crucial importance, which entails great responsibility, indicating
that Sheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf was competent and up to the
chal-lenge.
LegacySheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf is
succeeding the legacy of former KNG a top officials including
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and
His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah, revealed Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled who reiterated his
confidence in the new KNG Deputy Chief.
On his visit, His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said that it
came as an extension of a previous visit by His Highness the Amir
last month to the KNG, adding that it also came within guideline
set by the leadership to the government in supporting of Kuwait’s
security and defense entities.
The KNG played an important role in addressing the most
prominent challenge facing Kuwait this year, which was the spread
of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and their efforts in
constructing field hos-pitals and quarantine facilities will not be
forgotten, noted Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled.
He stressed that the KNG’s support of the Interior, Defense, and
Health Ministries was of utmost importance to defeat the current
pandemic.
His Highness the Prime Minister extended his thanks to the KNG
under the leadership of Chief His Highness Sheikh Salem Al-Ali
Al-Sabah and also commended the role played by former Chief and
current Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Sabah in developing the
national guards apparatus.
On his part, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf said that the Kuwait National
Guard (KNG) was eager to develop its apparatus, cooperate with
state bodies and defend the country when it is required.
He affirmed that he was hon-ored to continue the legacy and
achievements of the former Deputy Chief of KNG and cur-rent Crown
Prince His Highness Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad.
DutiesSheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf said
that he would do his best to per-form his duties, pointing out
that the KNG was eager to carry out the leadership’s instructions
in regards to fending of the threat of the pandemic.
The KNG is willing to extend cooperation to other state entities
including the Interior and Defense Ministries, the Kuwait Fire
Force (KFF) as well as oth-ers, he indicated.
The KNG Deputy Chief added that this solid cooperation would
KUNA photoHH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah
meets the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas
Khaled Al-Saleh and head of the Kuwait Fire Services Department
Khalid Rakan Al-Mikrad.
be beneficial to Kuwait’s security especially during times of
crisis and emergency.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf congratulated His Highness the
Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled on earning the trust of His
Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad and His Highness the Crown
Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad, expressing hopes for suc-cess to His
Highness the Prime Minister.
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled’s visit to the KNG is an honor and it
reflects the government’s keenness on the security and stability of
Kuwait, the official affirmed.
His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad
Al-Sabah highlighted on Thursday the efforts of Kuwaiti
fire-fighters to save lives during the coronavirus pandemic, saying
their sacrifices have been nothing short of admira-ble.
As he visited the Kuwait Fire Force (KFF) headquarter, where he
was received by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for
Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh, His Highness the Prime Minister said
these efforts have garnered firefight-ers the respect and
admiration of His Highness the Amir.
“We shoulder the responsibility to live up to the expectations
of His Highness the Amir,” he said, adding that KFF staff had set a
precedent during the pandemic through their efforts to provide
urgent aid nation-wide, lauding their “preparedness” to deal with
similar emergencies.
Citing newly enacted legislation, His Highness the Prime
Minister said that such laws are instrumental in pushing
life-saving efforts in times of trouble, wishing the nation
continued growth and prosperity.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for
Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh said Thursday that Fire Force mission
during the pandemic was “ highly commended, appreciated, and made
the political leadership proud,” as
they embodied the high patriotic spir-it and high efficiency in
performing their on the ground duties to the full-est.
In a speech delivered on the occa-sion of His Highness the Prime
Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah visit to Fire Force
headquarters, Al-Saleh said on behalf of all of the force’s
employ-ees, he expresses his happiness and pride to such visit,
which comes as a continuation of previous visits to senior
leadership, namely His Highness the Amir of Kuwait.
AchievementsIn his speech, Al-Saleh highlight-
ed the achievements of the force dur-ing the Coronavirus
pandemic, as the force distributed batches of medicine supplies to
those who need it most, including constructing and securing
quarantine areas, securing and steril-izing various entities,
Fire force crews also applied and monitored fire systems
applications to all (firefighting) services and licenses, which
reached more than 80 percent, the minister noted.
He stressed the (fire-fighters’) keenness to develop the human
resource element by activating virtu-al reality to ensure upgrades
due pay-ments and graduate batches of offi-cers and
non-commissioned officers to join and assist their colleagues.
He affirmed that the force would continue to double efforts in
coopera-tion and support for all military and civilian state
bodies, keeping Kuwait’s interest in mind.
Agencies add:Editor acquitted: The Criminal Court presided over
by Judge Faisal Al-Harbi acquitted the Editor-in-Chief of
Al-Seyassah and Arab Times newspapers Ahmad Al-Jarallah who was
accused of insulting Iran through a published cartoon, and using
phrases that can be deemed as interference in Iran’s internal
affairs and offensive to Iran’s leader and supreme guide, as
report-ed by Al-Seyassah daily .
According to the case file,
Al-Jarallah was accused of publish-ing two articles in two
issues (18219 and 18228) of Al-Seyassah newspa-per which contained
phrases and a caricature that allegedly insulted the Islamic
Republic of Iran, and also using phrases deemed as interference in
its internal affairs, and also offen-sive to its leadership.
The Public Prosecution argued that such offenses would harm the
rela-tions between Kuwait and a friendly country Iran via a media
campaign, as indicated in the investigations, adding that he also
authorized the publication of articles subject to the first
accusation without investigating the accuracy and truth of what he
published.
In its verdict, the court explained that, despite the evidence
presented by the plaintiff, the articles published did not qualify
to be termed as a media campaign against the plaintiff. Also, the
articles were published ten days apart from each other, thus
fall-ing short of the text of paragraph 9 of Article 21 of law No.
3/2006 in the matter of publications and publish-ing.
It is worth mentioning that the Public Prosecution cited
evidence on the confirmation of the incident before Al-Jarallah,
from what was testified by a second secretary in the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, and what was mentioned in the two issues (18219
and 18128) of Al-Seyassah newspaper on the matter.
❑ ❑ ❑
KNET ops see rise: Official data of the Shared Electronic
Banking Services Company (KNET) revealed that the value of the
company’s oper-ations in Kuwait reached KD 20 bil-lion as at the
end of October 2020 -- four percent growth compared to the same
period in 2019, reports Al-Anba daily.
The data showed that around 375 million transactions -- five
percent higher than in 2019 -- were carried out through various
electronic pay-ment channels of KNET like points of sale (POS),
ATMs and online pay-ment portal.
KUNA photoDeputy Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet
Affairs Anas Khaled Al-Saleh
visits the rescue center opposite the Kuwait Towers.
Missing child found drownedKuwait Fire Force’s Maritime Rescue
Department has managed to retrieve the dead body of a child who was
swept up at the shores of the Arabian Gulf besides the Kuwait
Towers after a week-long search.
The body of the child, who had been missing after a sailing
expedition at sea with his father, was recovered after its
whereabouts was reported to authori-ties. Kuwait Fire Force chief
Lt Gen Khaled Al-Mekrad extended his sincere
condolences to the family of the deceased child, who had drowned
after being in the company of his father, who sufferred a similar
fate.
Sea goers were urged to adhere to safety guidelines at sea,
namely to closely monitor weather conditions, ensure that the
vessel and navigation systems are in full working order and to
maintain a means of communication with authorities in the event of
an emer-gency. (KUNA)
Egyptian admits, re-enacts murder
Kuwaiti killed in dispute over ‘iqama’ renewalKUWAIT CITY, Jan
3: The General Department of Public Relations and Security Media at
the Ministry of Interior released a statement on the murder of a
Kuwaiti in Khaitan, reports Al-Anba daily.
The statement added after a report was received about the murder
of the victim, a team was formed to find the killer and it turned
out that the murderer is an Egyptian working for the compa-ny owned
by the victim.
The Kuwaiti was allegedly murdered over a dispute to renew the
residence permit. During interrogation the suspect is said to have
admitted to committing the
crime.A security source told Al-Anba
that the Operations Room of the Ministry of Interior received a
report on the incident at about 3:00 pm Wednesday that there was a
corpse in one of the build-ings and that traces of blood were all
over the place including the walls of the building and the
stair-case.
When securitymen, deputy public prosecutor and forensic men
rushed to the site they dis-covered the victim, born in 1960 was
stabbed 7 times on various parts of his body.
The suspect was allegedly working for the company of the
victim and residing in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. When police went to
his residence, they did not find him there.
However, he was tracked with the help of satellite technology in
Hawalli at the home of one of his friends.
During interrogation he admit-ted to the charge and guided
police to the place where he had hidden the murder weapon.
He told police he had a dispute with his sponsor so he went to
his house and stabbed him several times. The victim allegedly tried
to escape from the ‘killer’ but he ran after him and stabbed him
repeatedly.
‘Killer’, four others held
Bedoun stabbed, perishes in hospitalKUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: An
unidentified 33-year-old bedoun who was stabbed to death was rushed
to the Adan Hospital by paramedics but the doctors failed to save
him, reports Al-Anba daily.
The daily added, the bedoun was stabbed four times in the
stomach which opened his stomach.
According to the security sources, the bedoun was attacked due
to previous dis-agreements after being lured into the Diwaniya of
the main suspect who had four visitors in the Diwaniya.
After stabbing the bedoun, he was alleg-edly run over by a
vehicle, which cracked his skull.
The Attorney-General has ordered to file the case under
premeditated murder.
The owner of the Diwaniya has been detained for interrogation
along with the four others. The Attorney-General has also ordered
the vehicle that the bedoun was run over by to be impounded.
❑ ❑ ❑
Theft bid foiled: The employees of the telephone services sector
at the Ministry of Communications managed to foil the theft of the
telephone cables belonging to the Booth No. 21 (wQ) that serve the
areas of
Mubarak Al-Kabeer and Al-Qurain.The Ministry of Communications
said in a
statement, as soon as the Legal Affairs Department was informed
of the theft attempt or, Ali Al-Anzi from the Legal Affairs
Department and Abdullah Al-Mansouri from the Telephone Network
Maintenance Department, were assigned to investigate the incident
and follow the issue.
A report has been filed with the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Police
Station and personnel from the Criminal Evidences Department have
been asked to lift the fingerprints from the area.
The ministry is coordinating with other authorities to prevent
the recurrence of thefts of cables.
❑ ❑ ❑
Appeal rejected: The Court of Appeals has rejected the appeal to
release the Fashionista, Jamal Al-Najadah and set January 7 to
issue the verdict, reports Al-Qabas daily
Al-Najadah has been sentenced to one year in prison with hard
labor. She is charged with insulting the Public Prosecutor who
investigated her n on suspicion of money laundering through an
audio record-ing in the social media.
News in Brief
Police efforts lauded: The Undersecretary of the Ministry of
Interior, Lieutenant-General Issam Al-Naham, accompanied by a
number of senior Interior Ministry officials, made an inspection
tour of Sabah Al-Ahmad Marine City and the Kabad area, Friday, to
see the prepared-ness of the security personnel at the entrances
and exits of the regions and the positioning of mobile police
patrols, reports Al-Anba daily.
During the tour, the team conveyed to the security men the
greetings and appreciation of the Minister of the Interior Sheikh
Thamer Al-Ali, appreci-ating the role played by the security men
and efforts exerted for the safety and security of the citizens and
residents and their constant vigilance to serve the homeland and
preserve its security.
❑ ❑ ❑
Revelers under probe: Official Spokesperson of the Information
Ministry Anwar Murad has confirmed the discovery of violations
committed by a hotel, which organized a concert with-out obtaining
a permit, reports Al-Rai daily.
Murad confirmed all those behind the concert were referred to
the Public Prosecution for violating public order and morals as per
Article 12 of Ministerial Resolution number 32/2019; adding that
the ministry, in cooperation with other concerned public
institutions, are keen on implementing the laws of the country to
protect public morals.
❑ ❑ ❑
Officer assaulted: Two young men have been detained at the
Abdali Police Station for assaulting a police officer
inside the police station, reports Al-Rai daily.
This happened when the officer seized the driving licence and
the car registra-tion book from the man behind the wheel for
reckless driving and told him and his friend to follow him to the
police station.
‘Jan 1 incidents’
Indian kills himselfKUWAIT CITY, Jan 3: As the coun-try stepped
into the New Year like the rest of the world, several inci-dents
were reported from all over Kuwait, reports Al-Anba daily.
The suburb of Khaitan witnessed the first fire of the New Year
as the fire destroyed the contents of an apartment on the eight
floor of the residential apartment but no human casualties have
been reported. The cause of the fire is not known.
In the first assault case, an unidentified Egyptian said he was
mugged by five people and gave police details of the vehicle the
sus-pects were driving in. The incident happened in Qairawan.
In another case, a Kuwaiti said his ex-wife threatened to cause
him harm for an unknown reason and a vehicle went up in flames on
the King Fahd Road opposite the Bayan Palace.
The Kuwait Oil Company reported the theft of six cables from the
Bahra field. The legal representative of the company has filed a
complaint with the area police.
In yet another incident, an Indian committed suicide by hanging
inside his apartment in Farwaniya area.
The General Administration of Security Relations and Information
at the Ministry of Interior announced security personnel were able
to arrest the suspect who had set fire to a mosque off the Salmi
Road.
Al-Naham
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LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2021
6
Gulf Bank 2020: Swift response to unprecedented challenges as
part of ongoing commitment to sustainability
logical growth and advancement, as the Bank works to elevate its
banking experi-ence to better serve clients.
Weekly Social Media InitiativesThis year, Gulf Bank also
launched
several weekly social media campaigns, including: “Save the
Environment” Sun-days, in which Gulf Bank focuses on recy-cling
initiatives and encourages followers to reduce their plastic use;
Motivational Mondays, in which the Bank posts inspi-rational
messages and influential content; Tech Tuesdays, in which Gulf Bank
highlights a weekly technological tip; and Wellness Wednesdays, in
which the Bank presents health advice for increased mental and
physical wellness. The weekly campaigns, which have quickly become
a few of the Bank’s most anticipated digital segments, aim to
deliver quick and benefi-cial tips for users in an effort to
promote environmental awareness, lifestyle well-ness, and financial
literacy.
Environmental SustainabilityWorld Cleanup DayIn celebration of
World Cleanup Day
and in collaboration with non-profit ini-tiative Alnowair, Gulf
Bank employees participated in the largest campaign in Kuwait to
clean public places as part of the Bank’s various efforts to
preserve environmental sustainability. By partici-pating in World
Cleanup Day, Gulf Bank employees had the chance to organize the
largest daily gathering of waste in Kuwait’s history and
collectively engage in positive social behavior towards the
environment.
“Save the Planet” SundaysAs part of Gulf Bank’s ongoing
efforts
to increase environmental awareness, the Bank also launched a
series of weekly so-cial media posts offering followers quick and
easy ways to protect the environment and preserve our world. The
weekly posts, which are posted on Gulf Bank’s Instagram Story,
highlight various cru-cial topics including: the effects of global
warming, the positive impact of organic agriculture on our
environment, the im-portance of environmental volunteering, and
more. The weekly initiative also in-cludes a series of timely posts
related to Kuwait’s seasonal traditions, with tips on how to clean
up after outdoor gather-ings during “kashta” season, and
encour-ages followers year-round to reduce their waste emission and
plastic use.
Recycling with Omniya & United Waste Management Company
In 2020, Gulf Bank also partnered with United Waste Management
Company to recycle paper as part of its commitment to recycling
more materials. Through-out the year, the Bank also deepened its
partnership with Omniya, a nationwide recycling initiative founded
in 2015 by young Kuwaitis aiming to raise aware-ness for waste
recycling. Through this partnership, the Bank is committed to
recycling paper and plastic waste, with a series of strategically
distributed recy-cling receptacles located in front of Gulf Bank’s
Head Office. By having recycling receptacles in one of the most
visible lo-cations in the heart of Kuwait City, Gulf Bank is
raising awareness for recycling not only with its employees, but
also with members of the local community.
Economic SustainabilityINJAZ & Community OutreachAs part of
its commitment to empow-
ering long-standing partnerships, Gulf Bank extended its support
to INJAZ Kuwait, a non-profit, non-governmental organization for
education and training in workforce readiness, financial literacy
and entrepreneurship. As part of their on-going strategic
partnership with INJAZ, Gulf Bank sponsored INJAZ Kuwait’s annual
“Company Program” competition in which students pitched their
business ideas to a panel of judges. In light of this year’s
circumstances, this year’s com-petition was held virtually, with
each of the winners taking home valuable prizes sponsored by Gulf
Bank. During the pan-demic, Gulf Bank participated in three INJAZ
Al-Arab programs: Job Shadow, Steer Your Career and Head Start.
Let’s Talk BusinessGulf Bank also launched “Let’s Talk
Business,” a series of interviews with lo-cal entrepreneurs
designed to stimulate an entrepreneurial culture in Kuwait. The
entrepreneurs are interviewed by Tareq Al-Saleh, Deputy General
Man-ager of the Economic Research Unit at Gulf Bank, who discusses
various busi-ness-related topics with guests including Chef Ahmed
Al Bader, Abdulaziz B. Al Loughani, Talal Al-Nafisi, Abdullah
Al-Essa. The business leaders discuss the keys to success for small
businesses, how to conduct businesses during times of crisis, how
to successfully diversify and expand a business, and more. The
seg-ments aired across Gulf Bank’s various social media channels
and on the AlRai-AlQabas TV channel.
Tenders ForumAs part of its continuous efforts to
support small and medium-sized enter-prises (SMEs), Gulf Bank
participated as a main sponsor of the Central Agency for Public
Tenders Forum for small and medium-sized enterprises. Among the
main objectives of the forum was to raise awareness about recent
legal amend-ments on public tenders, highlighting the rights of SME
owners. Speakers at the forum also discussed ways to create
op-portunities for owners of SMEs to take part in governmental
tenders in an effort to consolidate relations and open doors for
collaboration between governmental agencies and smaller companies.
Gulf Bank, which views growing companies as a vital pillar for
successful economies, continues to provide SMEs with an inte-grated
set of services designed around the needs of growing companies.
To learn more about Gulf Bank’s vari-ous sustainability efforts
and initiatives, customers can visit one of the Bank’s branches, or
visit the Gulf Bank web-site at www.e-gulfbank.com. Customers can
also use the WhatsApp service on 1805805 for round-the-clock
assistance from Gulf Bank representatives, or call the Customer
Contact Center on the same number.
‘Gulf Bank is unwavering in its commitment to sustainability
efforts at the community, economic and environmental levels’
Development Goals 2030 agenda (part of the national development
plan, Kuwait Vision 2035).
