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THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAITEstablished in
1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com
MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020 / JUMADA AL AWWAL 13, 1442 AH
emergency number 112 NO. 17573 16 PAGES 150 FILS
football
cricket
Pages 15 & 16
Page 14
Interior details arrest of 2 DAESH-leaning minors, adultKUWAIT
CITY, Dec 27: The Di-rectorate-General of Public Rela-tions and
Security Media Depart-ment of the Interior Ministry stated that as
part of the relentless efforts of various sectors of the Ministry
of Interior to address crime, track down criminals and confront
them with firmness, the security services have arrested two
juveniles, ages 15 and 16, and an adult for pos-sessing unlicensed
weapons and ammunition and promoting what the security authorities
called ex-tremist ideology, reports Al-Anba daily.
A statement by the Ministry of Interior giving details, said the
cooperation between the security agencies one of the suspects was
arrested, who during interroga-tions admitted to meeting a per-son
on the social media and their discussions centered on extremist
ideology which both of them hap-pened to share.
The administration said further investigations and an
intensified search and investigation opera-tions and collecting
information, two other persons were arrested, one of them a
juvenile embracing
the same extremist ideology, and after taking permission from
the prosecution, their homes were searched and unlicensed weap-ons
and ammunition, ISIS logos and photographic devices were found.
The administration when those arrested were confronted them with
what was attributed to them, they acknowledged and confessed to
possessing weapons and ammu-nition.
Following the arrest, verbal in-structions were issued last
Thurs-day evening to most security sec-
tors to deploy in the vicinity of vital installations, whether
they are places of worship, oil instal-lations or commercial
complex-es, in addition to the deployment of the Special Forces
personnel, security patrols and security men in their military
uniform.
However, a security source said that these precautionary
measures have nothing to do with the issue of the two minors,
adding that they are security measures taken by the higher
leadership in the ministry.
Panel dusts off pendingbills on Assembly shelf
HIGH TURNOUT FOR VACCINATION ... NO SIDE EFFECTS YET
AstraZeneca shot effective on variant204 new cases
By Saeed Mahmoud SalehArab Times Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: National Assembly Speaker Mar-zouq
Al-Ghanim on Sunday confirmed the conclusion of the election of
chairpersons and rapporteurs of all committees.
Al-Ghanim then unveiled his plan to invite members of the
Assembly Office to a meeting on Monday in order to specify the
agenda for the upcoming legislative sessions.
He also confirmed meeting the representatives of lecturers at
Kuwait University, during which he listened to their com-plaints
such as the delayed payment for the summer course. He promised that
most of their demands will be met in coordina-tion with Minister of
Education and Higher Education Dr Ali Fahd Al-Mudaf.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the parliamentary Legal and Leg-islative
Affairs Committee MP Khalid Ayed affirmed the pres-ence of panel
members in the meeting on Sunday except MP Hamad Al-Harshani who
apologized for his absence due to certain circumstances.
He revealed the committee looked into the bills in its agen-da,
indicating the government submitted some of these bills to the
previous legislature while others were submitted in 1994. He said
the committee will ask the concerned ministries if they intend to
push through with the submission of these bills or not.
He added several bills were referred to the concerned pan-els,
clarifying his committee will continue presenting its
con-stitutional opinions and prepare reports on these proposals. He
disclosed the committee will meet on Jan 4, 2021 to follow up the
bills.
AgreementRapporteur of the Public Funds Protection Committee
MP
Hassan Jawhar said the committee discussed its work program and
an agreement has been reached to meet twice a week in order to
tackle issues concerning public funds including those raised by the
2016 Assembly.
On the other hand, MP Badr Al-Mullah was elected chair-man of
the Budgets and Final Accounts Committee while MP Dr Badr Al-Dahoum
was elected rapporteur.
Al-Mullah explained that the duties of the committee are
different this year in view of the unprecedented budget deficit. He
also thanked former chairman of the committee MP Adnan
Abdulsamad.
MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji forwarded queries to Minister of Foreign
Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmed Nasser Al-Muhammad about the Malaysian
sovereign fund issue. He requested for copies of the case that the
ministry submitted to the Public Prosecution, resignation of the
former chairman of Kuwait Financial Investigations Unit, and
correspondences between the ministry and Malaysian government about
the issue.
MP Farz Al-Daihani submitted a bill on the establishment of a
sports club in Jahra, which will be financed by the Public
Authority for Sports. He suggested that the club should be of-fer
various sports, social and entertainment activities.
He also forwarded queries to Deputy Prime Minister and State
Minister for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh about the incentive for
workers on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus. He wants
to know the number of beneficia-ries, amount allocated for this
purpose, if this amount is included in the public budget or not, if
those excluded from the list of beneficiaries will be given a
chance to complain, and reasons for suspending the distribution of
free protec-tive equipment to the employees of the interior and
health ministries.
MP Saleh Zeiab Al-Mutairi forwarded queries to Minister of
Commerce and Industry Faisal Abdulrahman Al-Medlej about the
closure of some shops, cooperative societies and pharmacies. He
asked if the owners of these establishments, which were shut down
for manipulating prices and cheating, were referred to the Public
Prosecution.
LONDON, Dec 27, (Agencies): The head of drugmaker Astra-Zeneca,
which is developing a coronavirus vaccine widely expected to be
approved by U.K. authorities this week, said Sunday that
researchers believe the shot will be effec-tive against a new
variant of the virus driving a rapid surge in infections in
Britain.
AstraZeneca chief executive Pas-cal Soriot also told the Sunday
Times that researchers developing its vac-cine have figured out a
“winning for-mula” making the jab as effective as rival
candidates.
Some have raised concern that the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, which is
being developed with Oxford University, may not be as good as the
one made by Pfizer already being distributed in the U.K. and other
countries. Partial results suggest that the AstraZeneca shot is
about 70% effective for preventing illness from coronavirus
infection, com-pared to the 95% efficacy reported by Pfizer and its
German partner BioNTech.
“We think we have figured out the win-ning formula and how to
get efficacy that, after two doses, is up there with every-body
else,” Soriot said. “I can’t tell you more because we will publish
at some point.”
Britain’s government says its medi-cines regulator is reviewing
the final data from AstraZeneca’s phase three clinical trials. The
Times and others have re-ported that the green light could come by
Thursday, and the vaccines can start to be rolled out for the U.K.
public in the first week of January.
Asked about the vaccine’s efficacy against the new variant of
coronavirus spreading in the U.K., Soriot said: “So far, we think
the vaccine should remain effective. But we can’t be sure, so we’re
going to test that.”
British authorities have blamed the new virus variant for
soaring infection rates across the country. They said the variant
is much more transmittable, but stress there is no evidence it
makes peo-ple more ill.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson sounded an urgent alarm about the
variant days be-fore Christmas, saying the new version of the virus
was spreading rapidly and that plans to travel and gather must be
canceled for millions. Authorities have since put increasing areas
of the country - affecting about 24 million people, or 43% of the
pop-ulation - in the strictest level of restrictions.
Many countries swiftly barred travel from the U.K., but cases of
the new vari-ant have since also been reported in a dozen locations
around the world.
Public health officials said on Dec. 24 that more than 600,000
people had received the first of two doses of the Pfizer
vaccine.
Jab takersMinister of Health Sheikh Dr. Bas-
sel Al-Sabah on Sunday lauded the high turnout of medical
personnel and frontline workers at Kuwait Vaccination Center since
the campaign kick-off earlier today.
Today began actual inoculation cam-paign after its inauguration
on Thursday, the minister said in a statement to jour-nalists while
inspecting the center at the International Fair Grounds in the
district of Mishref.
First to take the jab against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)
throughout the week are the medical personnel, minister Al-Sabah
affirmed.
A shipment of doses will arrive in Ku-wait every month and they
will be pro-vided to willing citizens and expatriates throughout
2021, he added.
The minister called on everybody to register their names and
other required data on the assigned website to get a date for the
immunization against COVID-19.
He reiterated the appeal to all to con-tinue to abide by
precautionary measures against the germ regardless of the assur-ing
dwindling figures of the cases.
Sheikh Bassel also revealed that none of the persons who had
taken the jab suf-fered from side-effects.
Kuwait listed 204 new coronavirus infections on Sunday to raise
the total 149,653 and two virus-related deaths in the past 24 hours
as the death toll rose to 931, the health ministry said.
The number of people hospitalized with the virus currently
stands at 3,143, with 49 of them in intensive care units,
accord-ing to ministry spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad, who
revealed that some 2,158 swab tests were conducted over the last
day out of a total of 1,243,422.
The ministry had earlier reported that some 199 more people had
been cured from the virus over the past day, raising the total of
those to have overcome the disease to 145,579.
He went on to urge nationals and expa-triates alike that abiding
by health precau-tions, mainly, following social distancing rules,
is the only way to halt the spread of the virus.
According to senior government sourc-es, the reward for
front-line COVID-19 workers is now subject to updating the data of
the beneficiaries with the aim of achieving fairness and giving all
those covered by the financial compensation their due reward,
reports Al-Anba daily.
Photo by Bassam Abu ShanabVaccination against coronavirus began
for all, including expatriates those who had booked appointments
with the Ministry of Health, on Dec 27. Above: People sitting in
the Hall No. 5 at the
International Mishref Fairground waiting their turn to get
vaccinated. — See Page 5
Opinion
Fluffy politics, Ankaraand a Tehran template
By Ahmed Al-JarallahEditor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
THE definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again and ex-pecting a different result - these words are credited
to the acclaimed genius Albert Einstein, and they perfectly ap-ply
to the fluffy politics of Ankara and Tehran in the region.
These two regimes continue to re-peat the same method of
expansion-ism and hegemony, instead of utilizing the opportunity
they have to establish strong relations with the regional
coun-tries and the world through the princi-ples of good and
neighborly diplomacy, and adherence to international treaties and
laws.
41 years after the establishment of the Mullah regime in Iran,
and 17 years after the rule of the Justice and Development Party in
Turkey, nothing has been achieved other than isolation, chaos and
economic losses.
Regarding Iran, it had a regime led by an enlightened king
“Muham-mad Reza Pahlavi”. He, within a few years, was able to build
the core of an industrial and economic system that, had it
continued to develop, could have turned Iran into a large regional
economic pole. Unfortunately, all that evaporated with Khomeini’s
arrival to power through a revolution.
Khomeini’s revolution came with il-luminating slogans that
captivated the minds of the Iranians who rallied to overthrow the
Shah, hoping that there would be a just Islamic rule. However, this
rule quickly turned into a source of concern for the people of
Iran, before the neighbors and the surrounding re-gion, because
instead of being open to the world particularly the region, and its
people enjoying peace and comfort, it pursued the state terror
policy of the Mullahs.
This system of rule led to the iso-lation of Iran, and sectarian
strife that ignited in the region, as well as the drug smuggling
networks sponsored by the Revolutionary Guards that are working to
poison youth in various countries of the world.
If the Mullah regime worked accord-ing to the correct Islamic
approach, it would have established the best rela-tions with the
world by respecting the sovereignty of states, and not
interfer-
ing in their affairs. Instead of seeking expansion on the basis
of sectarian and religious politics, it had the opportunity to
transform Iran into the Japan of the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Turkey, until 2003, was one of the most powerful
countries ec-onomically and industrially. It did not interfere in
the internal affairs of any neighboring country.
However, when it fell into the clutches of the Turkish
Brotherhood’s Justice and Development Party, it aban-doned the “no
interference” policy, and went on to interfere in Syria, and then
Iraq, Yemen, and Libya. It established military bases in Somalia
and some Gulf countries, at a time when the Ot-toman Erdogan’s
rhetoric rose about the empire that ruled large areas of the
world.
Turkey today suffers from the boy-cott of the Gulf markets for
its products, as well as the US sanctions that burden its economy
and reduce the purchasing power of its Lira. The unemployment rate
has risen to about 15 percent, and its foreign debt has reached $
431 bil-lion.
The Justice and Development party did not act according to its
name. It did not uphold principles of justice when it began to
fabricate files against its oppo-sitions. As for the development
part, it turned it into a war abroad with the help of the mother
organization “The Mus-lim Brotherhood Group”, which for the last
eight decades adopted a policy of assassination, bombing, murder,
and inciting sectarian and religious strife, let alone being an
essential partner of the Mullahs regime since 1979.
Today, in light of the international changes that the world is
witnessing, both Iran and Turkey have become out-casts. Their
people suffer from choking living crises. Despite this, the regimes
continue to follow the same crazy poli-cies that neither achieved
the dream of a Persian empire, nor the Ottoman Sultanate. Rather,
the two regimes are dying while increasing internal popular
resentment against them.
Email: [email protected]
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Day by Day
NATIONS have spent trillions of dollars during the Corona
pan-demic to support their citizens, and all of them were given
loans, and some of them will continue to pay until the Day of
Judgment as we in Kuwait be-lieve.
However, we spent a few millions on buying face masks, medicines
and building quar-antines, some of which were twice their real
cost, meaning we spent nothing.
All the Gulf countries spent a lot to spare their people the
re-percussions of the disaster and solve their financial problems.
These solutions did not affect their financial status. Rather, it
was a move to recycle mon-ey and return it to its natural source,
while at the same time stopping its flow. The scarcity will destroy
the country and its stability. Money is a means not a goal.
… Yet tomorrow is another day.
Zahed Matar
Newswatch
KUWAIT CITY: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad
Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has sent a cable of condolences to Egyptian
President Abdulfattah el-Sisi on a deadly fi re that happened at a
medical unit for treating COVID-19 cases in Cairo.
His Highness the Amir prayed for souls of the deceased, wished
the injured recovery and wellbeing and their families endurance and
patience.
His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah sent a cable of identical content to President
el-Sisi.
For his part, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah
Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah also addressed el-Sisi with a similar
ca-ble.
National Assembly Speaker Mar-zouq Ali Al-Ghanim has sent a
ca-ble of condolences to his Egyptian counterpart Dr. Ali Abdulal
on vic-tims of the fi re that happened at med-ical facility for
treating COVID-19 cases on Cairo’s outskirts. (KUNA)
❑ ❑ ❑
KUWAIT CITY: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad
Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received a cable of condolences on Sunday from
the Moroccan King Mohammad VI, expressing his sorrow over the
de-mise of late Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the
former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Defense.
In turn, His Highness the Amir thanked the Moroccan King for his
kind words and sincere sentiments.
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf received a cable of
condo-lences on Sunday from the Tunisian President Qais Saeed,
expressing his sorrow over the demise of late Sheikh Nasser Sabah
Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the former Deputy Prime Minister and
former Minister of Defense.
In turn, His Highness the Amir thanked the Tunisian president
for his kind words and sincere sentiments.
His Highness the Amir also re-ceived a cable of condolences on
Sunday from the Spanish King Fe-lipe VI, expressing his sorrow over
the demise of late Sheikh Nasser Sa-bah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah,
the former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Defense.
(KUNA)
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LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020
2
PAM keen to support nat’l workforce, says Al-Mazyad
‘Authority to help overcome all obstacles’
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: Director of the Public Re-lations
Depart-ment and Offi cial Spokesperson of the Public Author-ity for
Manpower (PAM) Aseel Al-Mazyad affi rmed PAM’s keenness to support
the nation-al workforce and overcome all the obstacles it faces,
without prejudice to the conditions of disbursing national labor
support and the decisions of the Cabinet organizing this matter,
reports Al-Anba daily.
In a press statement, Al-Mazyad indicated that PAM does not mind
combining work and study for those who have reached the age of 25,
and spent three years in non-governmental bod-ies as long as the
condi-tions are met.
She explained that all eligibility conditions stipulated in
Cabinet resolution No. 391/2001 and its amendments must be met. The
financial aid will not be disbursed if any of these conditions are
not fulfilled.
StipulatesThe fourth item in Arti-
cle 5 of the decision stip-ulates that the applicant, for the
disbursement of support, must not be en-rolled in any of the stages
of education or regis-tered in any of the train-ing courses
organized by the Public Authority for Applied Education and
Training (PAAET).
Those who have reached the age of 25, and have completed three
years are excluded from the condition of the num-ber of years of
working for a non-governmental entity.
Article 9 of the deci-sion stipulated the sus-pension of the
disburse-ment of fi nancial aid in the event that the practice of
the profession or trade was stopped or the work relationship with
non-governmental agencies ended.
According to the deci-sion, the payment will be suspended for
those who are proven to be outside the country, either for studies
or other purposes, provided that they contin-ue practicing work in
im-plementation of the text of Article 9 of Cabinet resolution No.
391/2001.
Al-Mazyad affi rmed that PAM will continue to disburse support
to work-ers in the private sector who are enrolled in edu-cational
institutions with-in the State of Kuwait and who continue to
practice their work, as well as meet the age requirement of 25
years and have three years of experience.
KUNA photosLeft: HH the PM Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid, and (right)
Deputy PM and Defense Minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al Ali.
Audiences of HH the Crown Prince
PAM’s Al-Mousa issues decision to form FECOC
His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah, received at the Bayan Palace on Sunday, His Highness the
Prime Minis-
ter Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah. His Highness the Crown
Prince also received Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense
Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-
Ali Al-Sabah. His Highness the Crown Prince then received
Dep-uty Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs
Anas Khalid Al Saleh. (KUNA)
By Ahmed FathiAl-Seyassah Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: Director-General of the Public Authority
for Manpower, Ahmed Al-Mousa, is-sued an administrative decision
No. 930 of 2020 on the declaration of the Federation of Exhibitions
and Conferences Organizing Companies (FECOC).
The decision clarifi es that the Con-stituent General Assembly
was held on October 12, 2020, and it was agreed between the
founders to establish the
Federation of Exhibitions and Confer-ences Organizing
Companies.
According to the decision the arti-cles of the association say
every Ku-waiti company licensed to engage in one of the activities
of organizing and managing exhibitions and conferences,
establishing camps and organizing var-ious events, whether for
individuals, institutions or companies, is included in the union’s
membership as ‘ordi-nary’ member.
The Federation’s Board of Directors consists of 5 members
elected by the General Assembly by secret ballot for
a period of two fi scal years, and the members of the Board of
Directors are elected from among them in their fi rst meeting and
consists of a president, a vice-president, a treasurer, a
secretary, a secretary of public relations and me-dia, and
chairman.
The administration is the legal rep-resentative of the
federation in front of all agencies, the fiscal year of the
federation starts from January 1 to the end of December of each
year, and the membership fee is 200 di-nars, to be paid once upon
becoming the member.
HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad.
KUNA photosNational Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim.
‘Legislative reform program launched’
Ex-minister highlights MoCI’swork in view of corona crisis
Audiences of HH the Amir
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: Former min-ister of commerce and industry
Khaled Al-Roudhan revealed the launch of a national support program
to address the repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis, which resulted
in enhancing food se-curity through logistical support with more
than 90 flights for the import of approximately 2.3 million tons of
frozen meat, fish, vegetables and fruits, reports Al-Rai daily.
Reviewing the achievements of the ministry during the
ministerial forum, Al-Roudhan explained that 279,000 live sheep
were imported. A shopping appointment reservation system for
co-operative societies and parallel markets was launched, which
resulted in nearly 4.5 million appointments. It was chosen by the
company (Amazon) as the best in-novative program during the
COVID-19 period.
The daily production capacity of masks has been raised to fi ve
million, and the daily production of sanitizers increased to
150,000.
ReformingHe indicated that reforming the com-
mercial environment requires developing the legislative
environment governing and regulating commercial business.
Al-Roudhan said his ministry launched a legislative reform
program that could help in development, and it sponsored 11 laws,
most notably the bankruptcy law, the competition protection law,
the insurance regulation law and the auditors’ law, and
upon these, any future economic reform will be built.
He stressed that the Ministry of Com-merce and Industry launched
an integrated program to automate services for trans-forming Kuwait
into an attractive com-mercial environment in light of traditional
government work, combating administra-tive corruption, preserving
the time of ini-tiators and employers, and restructuring the
requirements for each service or mak-ing the required conditions,
the time spent and the fees to be paid.
IndicatedAl-Roudhan indicated that the results
achieved from mechanization are rep-resented in providing
approximately 400,000 personal visits to the ministry annually,
automating 78 percent of the ministry’s services, reducing the
duration of the transactions, and linking with 19 government
agencies.
He stressed that the ministry worked on entering Kuwait for the
fi rst time among the top ten most reformative countries in the
world out of 190 countries, adding that Kuwait jumped 51 places in
the index of starting commercial activity, and rose 21 places in
the index of protecting minority investors.
Al-Roudhan affi rmed that the Kuwait Stock Exchange was classifi
ed into an emerging market, which resulted in an infl ux of foreign
capital exceeding $8 bil-lion, and an increase in liquidity of 30
per-cent from last year, including 20 percent of foreign
investments.
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
received at Seif Palace Sunday His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh
Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
His Highness the Amir also received National Assembly Speaker
Marzouq Al-Ghanim and His Highness the Prime
Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Ham-ad Al-Sabah.
His Highness the Amir later received Deputy Prime Minister and
Defense Minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah, and Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas
Al-Saleh. (KUNA)
‘MoH keen on providing all types of meds for chronic, infectious
& other diseases’
KD 1.5 mln allocated to import medicines for asthma
patientsKUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: The Minis-try of Health has allocated
about KD 1.5 million to import medicines for asthma patients in
health centers and public hospitals, reports Al-Qabas dai-ly
quoting reliable sources.
Sources confirmed the ministry is keen on providing all types of
medicines for chronic, infectious and other diseases, especially
during the
corona crisis. Sources warned that patients suffering from
asthma and other respiratory diseases might ex-perience certain
health conditions if they get infected with coronavirus as well.
Sources stressed the need to closely monitor the health conditions
of these patients, indicating these pa-tients should not leave
their homes unless it is extremely necessary.
Sources pointed out such measures will greatly contribute to the
ongoing efforts to curb the spread of corona-virus, seasonal
influenza, pneumonia and other illnesses.
Sources added the ministry is also in the process of importing
medicines for hepatitis, materials needed for the ther-apeutic
feeding of children and elderly who have allergies, and treatment
for
genetic metabolic diseases at a cost of KD 473,000.
Sources said the ministry will also procure injections for
rheumatoid pa-tients in public hospitals at a cost of around KD
491,000. Sources clarifi ed there are different causes of
rheuma-toid diseases such as obesity, smoking, family history and
age.
Sources affi rmed the process of im-
porting medicines and medical sup-plies did not stop during the
corona crisis despite the diffi culties related to shipping and
supply. Sources disclosed the ministry succeeded in securing ample
supply of medicines to cover a longer period of emergency, in view
of the estimated time for the virus to recede and for life to
return to normal.
Sources said the ministry conducts
periodic follow-up in the pharma-cies at public hospitals, as
well as the health and specialized centers, to guarantee ample
supply of medi-cines. Sources added the ministry replenishes
medical supplies as soon as the quantity decreases or provides
alternatives to ensure that the quality of health care provided to
the public is not affected.
Al-Mazyad
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LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020
3
KUNA photoHH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
received HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled
Al- Hamad Al-Sabah in his office on Sunday, Dec 27. Various
issues were discussed.
Other Voices
‘Status quo remains undisturbed’“I HAD earlier mentioned that I
am not optimis-tic about the results of the recent elections
because the current MPs will not be able to bring us out of our
sufferings and I say this even if the nation had changed all faces
of the 2016 MPs and the reason be-ing we continue to consecrate
tribalism, sectarianism and factionalism in its ugliest forms and
oblige the deputy to bow down to their desires and kill orga-nized
teamwork,” columnist Mohammad Al-Ruwai-hel wrote for Al-Jarida
daily.
“The joy that accompanied the election results was not because
of the outcome but rather because of the fall of those who
disappointed the voters and failed to keep their promises;
therefore I do not see a way out or a solu-tion to our problems
without concerted sincere efforts to end this political
absurdity.
“The strange thing is that some described the gather-ing of 42
MPs as opposition just because they announced their tendency to
choose Badr Al-Humaidi as the Parliament Speaker and I previously
mentioned that no real opposition can be formed un-der the current
electoral system, and it is diffi cult for a number of MPs of this
size to agree to all pro-grams that the citizen aspires to.
“Each MP is subject to the agenda of his constituents, and he
knows the number by which he can succeed, and he knows how to
sat-isfy them.
“The other issue was the bias the government showed in voting
for MP Marzouq Al-Ghanim during the elec-tion of the President of
the National Assembly. Marzouq has an organized infl uential and
strong team and that in-cludes the media and money, and if the
government does not do this there can be no cohesion.
“After the election results, passing through the battle for the
President, the Assembly’s offi ce and after the elections of the
parliamentary committees, it became clear that change was not in
the offi ng and that we are back to square one, and that what we
see is an extension of the state of continuous political
tampering.
“It is not possible in such a way to fi x the situation even if
the authority wanted it. It would not succeed eas-ily without
cooperating with the national reformers and working out a
successful program to end this era.
“As for the situation, we shall not realize any reform even if
the people change all the parliament’s represen-tatives.”
Also:“It is unfortunate our political actors talk and
analyze
issues but in reality everything is far from reality. Their
readings and analyses are imaginary and has nothing to do with
Kuwait’s reality – a majority of them are incom-plete and those
which are complete are wrong,” colum-nist Za’ar Al-Rashidi wrote
for Al-Anba daily.
“These and their ilk are considered by the oppo-sition as their
theorists and this, unfortunately, is a major reason why the
opposition often commits fatal mistakes.
“Of course, I mean the political actors who are profi -cient in
talking about politics, whether through individ-ual videos or
through seminars, wearing the opposition cloak often speaking with
excessive idealism.
“Their simplest mistakes are that they build their analyzes or
comments on the assumption that we are a constitutional monarchy,
even though our political system is not, for example, they talk
about our po-litical differences by projecting the British case to
the Kuwaiti political reality, so it is natural for their comments
to be extremist and depict our country as a country mired in
corruption, and thus spread a state of darkness and pessimism even
about the future of our country among the people.
“Rather, they go further and compare the old democ-racies to our
democracy, so you fi nd their explanations for what is happening to
us as if it is a disaster and the end of the world, and you fi nd
someone saying ‘This would not happen if we lived in Britain, it is
true that we are not in Britain, we are not like this, and it is a
naivety if we build our political analyzes on the British legal
system, for example, or any legal system for any other country.
“Their readings lack the basics of simple logic, and they fail
to provide a realistic explanation for any event going on in the
region, for their conversations is fi lled with devilish opposition
to all our political surround-ings, and their discourse is populist
so they always por-tray that there is a conspiracy hatched against
the people by allied commercial-political elites.
“Yes there are political elite and there is convergence of
interests and there are groups of economic pressure and the
interests of companies, but this matter exists in Washington and
London, capitals of democracies in the world, in the same way and
in the same manner that we have and perhaps they are more
organized, so these people should stop exporting the image of
Kuwait as the capital of corruption in the world.
“The speeches of these political stars are suitable for media
consumption only like any other entertainment show, but they do not
offer solutions not because they do not properly analyze our
problems, but they lack the minimum elements of political analysis
and good only in the verbal attack against the other, they attack
the gov-ernment without presenting one solution.
“These stars have to land on the surface of the earth from the
fi ctional political world in which they live, and start talking
about the fact that we are a special and distinctive democracy from
others, and that we are not Britain.
“I tell these political actors, ‘In order to get respect,
present your analysis according to the Kuwaiti equation data, at
least, so that we can understand.
“It is not conceivable to bring an actor to investigate a murder
case only because he once played the role of
a police investigator, and it is wrong to seek the help of a
political entertainer to plan your way to confront the
government.”
❑ ❑ ❑
“Some citizens wonder about the reason behind the deterioration
of previous assemblies. Why some outputs did not match the
ambitions. Why did they forget all their promises, succumb to
pressure, and change their convictions and decisions once they
reached their goal? Why did some of them engage in corruption and
become incompetent in representing the aspiration of the citizen in
a new and developed Kuwait at all levels?” columnist Abdulaziz
Saoud Al-Essa wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“Most of the voters want change, as we saw on poll-ing day.
Kuwaitis rushed to the ballot boxes to express their opinions and
deliver goodness. Let us diagnose the problem and define it
accurately, such that we find two types of citizens.
“First is the one who trusts the candidate and recom-mends him
in accordance with the promises that the latter made including the
solutions he promised. This citizen believes the promises of the
candidate, so he chooses the latter as his representative in the
National Assembly only for the candidate to let him down later.
“Second is the citizen who focuses on the interest of his group
at the expense of the interest of his country. Therefore, he is
proud of the success of a candidate from his family, sect or tribe.
He forgets the interests of the country that should not be related
to a family, sect or tribe.”
❑ ❑ ❑
“May God forgive Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad whose passing
afflicted the hearts and souls of most people in Kuwait as they
mourned him for more than three consecutive days through the media
such that the hashtag #Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad became the first
un-challenged trend,” columnist Dr Ali Al-Zuabi wrote for Al-Shahid
daily.
“Personal accounts displayed his pictures and many echoed his
quotes that have become immortal these days. Yes, all these
happened even if ‘Nasser Al-Ku-wait’ was not among those who poured
money into writ-ers, media, intellectuals and influential people in
society.
“‘Nasser Al-Kuwait’ did not own newspapers, news channels and
news programs to highlight his image among the people. ‘Nasser
Al-Kuwait’ did not take ad-vantage of the positions he occupied to
buy the loyalty of politicians, MPs and others.
“‘Nasser Al-Kuwait’ never owned the above. He did not use his
money and influence to do the above. Also, he had the courage to
fight against corruption. He used his charisma with all his
strength and without hesita-tion, so he loved and appreciated the
people of Kuwait. When he left, they cried and made him a
symbol.”
❑ ❑ ❑
“Until now all the people had no issues to discuss oth-er than
the issue of who would be the National Assembly Speaker. We hear
some people saying - this is treachery, that is disguised by his
group, and the other has been to perform his responsibility”,
columnist Yousef Al-Hajji wrote for Annahar daily.
“All are mere talks, cutting and pasting pictures of voting
papers on social media sites. This is not permis-sible, neither
from the perspective of Sharia nor legally, for us to create a bad
impression about fellow humans and their morals without clear
evidence. Since the an-nouncement of the results of elections of
the National Assembly speakership, we have been overwhelmed ev-ery
day with how many names were removed and all sorts of
allegations.
“This is a matter that it is not permissible. God forbids the
attitude of maligning the morals of human beings. If there are
papers that were photographed and given ac-cording to your words,
from where did the papers come, and who distributed them? Who is
responsible for these papers? The National Assembly is not only
about pre-siding, because people brought the MPs into this
parlia-ment for legislation and oversight.
“The speaker is one, and there are 49 MPs who legis-late,
monitor, work and accomplish. They are the deci-sion-makers, and
the completion of the parliament will not stop with the leadership.
For the sake of participation and change, which has been achieved,
you should not waste time with the issue of the speakership since
there is a lot of work awaiting you.”
❑ ❑ ❑
“The recent trends of the accelerated government and
parliamentary events require us to broadcast brief messages to the
stakeholders to express our bitter reality,” Waleed Ibrahim
Al-Ahmad wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“Our government has not yet understood the outcome of the recent
election results, in revolt against the coun-try’s economic,
political and social conditions, when it reconstituted a routine
government with nothing new or renewed!
“Let us go beyond the speakership that MP Marzouq Al-Ghanim won
for another four years after a fierce competition with MP Bader
Al-Humaidi (33-28).
“The parliamentary opposition did not succeed in uniting it
after clear “betrayals” were evident in the secret vote compared to
what was announced pub-licly!
“An investigation must be opened into the events of the opening
session, the pandemonium that accompa-nied the voting papers, the
photography, seals, and the audience, by placing dots on the
letters!
“The opposition must overcome its loss in the speak-ership
battle, and start logical thinking about how to push the wheel of
development forward, stop corrup-tion, and expose the manipulators
of the future genera-tions’ fund, the negligent and the weak.”
— Compiled by Ahmad Al-Shazli
Minister meets top MoE officials,wants end to hitches facing
work
Call to fill vacant supervisory positions
By Abdulrahman Al-ShammariAl-Seyassah Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: Minister of Education and Minister of
Higher Educa-tion Dr. Ali Al-Mudhaf be-gins a series of individual
meetings with senior offi-cials in the Ministry of Ed-ucation
including directors of departments to get first-hand information
about the most important obstacles and problems facing the work and
impeding its sta-bility within the framework of the minister’s
endeavor to solve problems, remove obstacles and address them in a
manner that is reflect-ed in the development of
the educational process. Educational sources indicated
the first meeting was with public education sector in the
presence
of his deputy, Osama Al-Sultan and the directors of the six
educational districts, the acting director of the Coordi-nation
Depart-ment.
The minister was briefed on all the mechanisms
and procedures in the educational ar-eas with regard to distance
education and the preparations made by the pub-lic education sector
at the end of the fi rst semester which is about to be completed,
the results of the weekly evaluation of students and their level of
academic achievement and the ex-tent to which the curricula keep
pace
with the time factor of the academic session to be completed,
even if it was adapted to suit the distance education system.
The sources explained the direc-tors have emphasized on fi lling
vacant supervisory jobs in the regions and schools as well as the
problems of con-tracts since many schools hire workers including
cleaning workers who are not sponsored by the company they are
working for and it constitutes a legal and security responsibility
for school principals if a problem occurs.
The sources stated that the minister will be informed of the
alternatives provided by the ministry in the event that paper-based
tests are not approved by the health authorities, and it has
be-come certain to continue with distance education, which requires
fi nding alter-natives for evaluation for students that include
conducting electronic tests, as is the case in many educational
insti-tutions until the return of traditional education to its
normal condition after the virus receded and the students were
vaccinated.
Dr Al-Mudhaf
DGCA to ink KD 9.2 mn contract for new control towerKUWAIT CITY,
Dec 27: The Di-rectorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will soon
sign a contract worth about KD 9.2 million to de-sign, manufacture,
supply, install, operate and provide training, main-tenance,
technical support and guar-antee services of the new control tower
equipment and its integration with Kuwait International Airport,
reports Al-Anba daily quoting in-formed sources.
They explained that the estab-lishment of a new air control
tower at Kuwait International Airport is aimed to raise the level
of air traf-fi c safety at the airport. The infra-structure
development project for Kuwait International Airport will
contribute to linking new projects to each other, operating them,
and pro-viding their systems with the latest international
systems.
The sources said, “The air control
tower project at Kuwait Internation-al Airport is distinguished
from the current tower by its height, which is not less than 70
meters, and its stra-tegic location, which enhances the visibility
of the air traffi c controller to the current runway, in addition
to the new third runway.”
Earlier, DGCA had revealed that the new air control tower will
be equipped with four major new sys-tems. They include a very
advanced radar system - the fi rst of its kind in the Middle East,
an automated air-craft control system, an advanced communication
system between the air traffi c controller and the plane’s crew,
and an indicative lighting sys-tem for aircraft.
Meanwhile , Acting Undersec-retary of the Ministry of Education
Faisal Al-Maqsid called on the Pub-lic Education Sector to issue a
direc-tive to the educational districts and
Religious Education Department to submit the list of outstanding
teach-ers and schools to honor them on the occasion of their
International Day for academic year 2019/2020, reports Al-Anba
daily.
Al-Maqsid stressed the need to submit the list no later than the
end of December for the ministry to complete the necessary
procedures on time.
In a related development, reli-able sources from the educational
sector affi rmed to the daily that the ministry neither ignored nor
forget the outstanding teachers who were chosen in the last
academic year. Sources explained the prevailing health situation
and exceptional circumstances that the country has been going
through made it impos-sible for the ministry to honor these
teachers.
Adnan Sayyed AbdulsamadFirst Constituency
ADNAN SAYYED ABDULSA-MAD is a Shiite. He was born in 1950 and
holds a Bach-elor’s Degree in Politics and Economics.
He is a member Ku-wait Economics Society, Kuwait Human Rights
Society, Kuwait Cultural and Social Society, and Kuwait Public Fund
Pro-tection Society.
He was a member of the 1981, 1992, 1996, 1999, 2006, 2009, 2012,
2013 and 2016 parliaments. In the 2013 Parliament, he did not
belong to any political bloc.
In the 2020 parliamentary elec-tions, he ranked seventh in his
constituency with 3,052 votes.
Voting Record
2013 Parliament■ Cancellation of items in the
grilling motion against Minister of Finance Muhammad Al-Abdullah
– abstained
■ Formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate the bank
deposits of MPs – ap-
proved■ No confidence mo-
tion against Health Minis-ter and State Minister for Cabinet
Affairs Sheikh Muhammad Al-Abdullah – rejected
■ Cancellation of the grilling motion against HH the Prime
Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak in 2014 – rejected
■ Amendment of Con-stitutional Court Law in 2014 – abstained
■ Partnership Enterprises Law in 2014 – approved
■ Cybercrimes Law in 2015 – rejected
■ DNA Law in 2015 – rejected ■ Law on disqualifying those
convicted in offending crimes in 2016 – rejected
December 2012 Parliament■ Referral of the grilling mo-
tion against Minister of Interior Ahmed Al-Homoud to the
Consti-tutional Court – approved
■ First deliberation on writing off the loan interest in 2013 –
ap-proved
■ Law on combating money laundering and financing terror-ism in
2013 – absent
■ Postponing the grilling mo-tion against Minister of Oil Hani
Husain – rejected
■ Postponing the grilling mo-tion against Minister of Finance
Mustafa Al-Shamali in 2013 – re-jected
■ Postponing the grilling mo-tion of State Minister for Housing
and Municipal Affairs Salem Al-Ozaina in 2013 – rejected
■ Postponing the grilling of Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmed
Al-Homoud in 2013 – rejected
■ One-man, one-vote in 2013 – approved
February 2012 Parliament ■ Death penalty for those
convicted of offending God – re-jected
Abdulsamad
Jobs turnout in MoE slowKUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: Only 212 out of
1,146 citizens included in the last batch of applicants who were
nominated by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to work at the
Min-istry of Education visited the ministry to complete cer-tain
procedures for their employment – a manifestation of the citizens’
reluc-tance to work in the ministry which cur-rently has around
116,000 employees assigned in its head office, schools and
educational districts, reports Al-Rai daily quoting a reliable
source from the edu-cational sector.
Al-Ruwaihel
News in Brief
Over 49,000 warnings: The gov-ernment issued 49,250 warnings to
complexes, markets and shops after following up the implementation
of health regulations in the past six months, reports Al-Jarida
daily.
Through its official social media account, the Government
Commu-nication Center announced that the executive authority
arranged 118,439 inspection visits to the abovemen-tioned places
for six months starting from the end of June; registered 8,815
violations and issued 497 closure or-ders to those who violated the
health regulations on curbing the spread of coronavirus.
❑ ❑ ❑
‘Provide legal cover’: To deter
those who infringe on the rights of the elderly, and to provide
legal cover for the parking spaces reserved for their vehicles, the
Ministry of Social Af-fairs will request the General Traffic
Department of the Ministry of Interi-or, to amend the Traffic Law
to allow for harsher penalties for those who park their vehicles in
spaces reserved for the elderly at the government in-stitutions and
commercial complexes, similar to the disabled, says
Al-Seyas-sah.
Informed sources told the Al-Seyassah daily that the Social Care
Sector of the Ministry of Social Af-fairs will demand, during a
meeting with the traffic sector officials, to make amendments
because the cur-rent law does not punish the viola-
tors enough, because according to the current law the citation
can be appealed and then dropped because there are no legal
articles to support the action.
❑ ❑ ❑
Bonus for workers: The Acting Director of the Finance Department
at the Ministry of Education, Matrouk Al-Mutairi, said 80,000 male
and fe-male employees of the ministry have been shortlisted to
receive ‘excellent work’ bonuses, says Al-Seyassah .
He said the total amount to be disbursed is 58.3 million dinars.
Al-Mutairi told Al-Seyassah daily the Department has submitted the
names along with the details to the Financial Supervision Office
for approval.
-
LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020
4
Egypt sentences man to ‘death’ for killing Kuwaiti woman, Saudi
mom
Plan to create chaos by two juveniles thwarted
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: Egypt sentences to death by hanging the
Egyptian who was found guilty of murder-ing a Kuwaiti woman and her
Saudi mother in October 2015, reports Al-Anba daily
The media reports said that the accused, Abd Al-Tawab Sayed
Youssef (54 years old), the prime accused in the murder has been
sen-tenced to death by hanging.
The Egyptian court has also sentenced his two brothers-in-law to
life in prison and released his wife after ruling her innocent
after the main accused admitted to planning and premeditatedly
murdering the victim with the help of his two brothers-in-law to
rob their money.
The main accused had claimed the elder woman slipped and fell in
the well while inspecting to buy it and that when the daughter
learned of her mother’s death she tried to kill him with a knife,
which prompted him to hit her with a spanner.
However, the investigations discovered he was lying and that he
deliberately killed and threw her body also in the well.
❑ ❑ ❑
Terror plan thwarted: A security source said that the security
services thwarted a plan by two juveniles to target one of the
places of worship of an Asian community in a suburb of Ardhiya,
which has already been shut down, reports Al-Anba daily.
The source said the two Kuwaiti minors were lured by ISIS
through elec-tronic games by elements believed to be affiliated
with the terrorist organization ISIS.
The source explained a few days ago, the Operations Room of the
Ministry of Interior had received a report that one of the two
juveniles had dumped a Kalashnikov rifle in front of a house
belonging to a security officer in Al-Firdous area after an
altercation with the other.
The source pointed out the incident received special atten-tion
from the security services, especially the State Security Agency
adding that the security men found that it was a juvenile who threw
the firearm, and he was referred for interrogation.
The juvenile, a ‘fellow’ living Fahaheel had contacted him and
asked him to carry out a terrorist act on one of the temples of an
Asian community. He explained that he thought it was a joke, but he
was surprised that the ‘fellow’ actually came to him and handed him
the firearm and asked him to accompany him to the temple site in
Ardhiya.
The source continued by say-ing the case was immediately
followed up by the state security apparatus, and the house of the
juvenile in Fahaheel was raided and another firearm was found ISIS
written on black bags.
The Al-Qabas daily gave more details of the investigations
say-ing the two teenagers who were lured and recruited by the
terror-ist organization ‘ISIS to target places of worship,
commercial complexes and other facilities, in an attempt to create
panic in Kuwait during the New Year holidays.
❑ ❑ ❑
Supervisor probed: Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha)
recently referred a for-mer supervisor at the Ministry of Education
to the Public Prosecution on charges of wast-ing public money as
part of con-tinuous efforts to combat corrup-tion, ward off its
dangers and effects, prosecute perpetrators, and receive and verify
serious reports on corruption, reports Al-Qabas daily.
In a press statement, Nazaha confirmed its intention to
con-tinue exerting efforts and imple-menting procedures related to
examining and conducting inves-tigations into serious corruption
reports. It expressed appreciation to those making such reports for
effectively playing their role to help the authority gain access to
the necessary information on incidents of corruption, while
affirming its commitment to pro-vide them with utmost protection
and maintain confidentiality as per the law and executive
regula-tions.
❑ ❑ ❑
Parents dumped: A Kuwaiti has been arrested and put behind bars
at the Salwa Police Station for expelling his parents and the
family servant from their home, despite the harsh cold weather,
reports Al-Anba daily.
The arrest came when the father, who is believed to be in his
60s, called the Operations Room of the Ministry of Interior and
complained his son had put him, his wife and servant out of the
house.
When police went to the house and arrested the man, they
dis-covered he was under the influ-ence of drugs.
A report by the Forensics will determine what drugs he has
consuming. The father stated the reason for his son’s actions was
his refusal to give money to buy narcotics.
❑ ❑ ❑
Crime sees rise: During the past three months, the country
witnessed an increasing number of vehicle break-ins, imperson-ation
and looting pedestrians, particularly Asian expatriates, and theft
of vehicles which ulti-mately ended up being burned or parts
dismantled and sold at the scrap market, says Al-Seyassah .
The CCTV cameras and the traffic cameras installed by the
General Traffic Department (GTD) of the Ministry of Interior at
vital traffic lights and high-ways have greatly contributed to
identifying criminals or putting an end to mad road races and
reckless driving.
❑ ❑ ❑
Officer insulted: A young Kuwaiti has been detained at a police
station in the Capital gov-ernorate for insulting a public employee
who also turned out to be abnormal and a debtor, reports Al-Anba
daily.
. Al-Rai photoThe half-lorry totally disintegrated after falling
off the bridge
Happy to be volunteer: Al-Matar
Two cheat death as half-lorry falls off bridge
Father dead, son missing at sea
MP takes part in campaign to remove waste
Two men were injured after the half-lorry they were rid-ing in
fell off the bridge on King Fahd Road, reports Al-Rai daily.
Acting on information fi remen from the Nuwaiseeb
Fire Station rushed to the spot and dealt with the ac-cident.
The daily did not say what cause the accident. The security
authorities are investigating. The injuries to the two men are
believed to be not life threatening.
Firefi ghters and maritime rescue teams have recovered the body
of a 47-year-old man, while attempts are being exerted to fi nd the
body of his son, reports Al-Rai daily.
Both men went missing after the
boat they were sailing in sank off Ku-wait Towers at dawn
Saturday. The cause of the death is not known and it is also not
known how far the boat was from the shore or if an SOS was received
by the concerned authorities.
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: The Trahame Volunteer Team, an affi liate
of the International Is-lamic Charitable Organization recently
organized a national campaign to remove waste from Kuwait Bay, in
coopera-tion with the Jahra branch of the Kuwait Municipality, with
the participation of a large number of volunteers, commu-nity fi
gures and senior offi cials of the charity organization, re-ports
Al-Anba daily.
The team also organized a campaign to clean Al-Subbi-ya beach at
the end of Jaber Bridge in cooperation with the Jahra Municipality
and more than 200 volunteers.
At the beginning, the head of the Environmental Committee in the
National Assembly, MP Dr Hamad Al-Matar said the
Parliament and the members of the committee are ready to
contribute and serve volunteers in preserving the environment,
w h e t h e r t h r o u g h legislation or monitor-ing.
He in-d i c a t e d the many b e n e f i t s of the air and
marine e n v i r o n -
ment, also in light of reports on pollution and the frightening
atmosphere that the Kuwaiti people have heard of. He said,
unfortunately this is real, and “we will play our role to fi
ght-ing this menace in Abdullah Al-Salem Hall, with legislation
and oversight.”Al-Matar told the daily, dur-
ing his participation in the campaign which Islamic char-ity
organization undertakes with its activities refl ects the civilized
face of Kuwait and expressed his happiness to be a part of
volunteer activities that Kuwait needs in light of the
environmental problems that we suffer, especially that volunteer
activities create a generation that cares about the
environment.
He explained, the environ-ment, is not a luxury, but rather a
necessity, and “we support any activity that contributes to
preserving our environment and protects it in cooperation with the
private, government, voluntary and legislative work
institutions.”
Disabled gets right: The Adminis-trative Court canceled the
decision of the Specialized Medical Committee of the Public
Authority for Disabled People to reduce the degree of disability of
a Kuwaiti woman and the conse-quences thereof, most notably the
granting of a certifi cate stating she suffers from a severe and
per-manent physical disability, reports Al-Anba daily.
During the court session, the plaintiff counsel Law-yer Hawra
Al-Habib affi rmed that her client had a severe and permanent
mo-bility disability since her birth. There are several medical
reports confi rming her illness. Her condition in 2007 was classifi
ed as severe and permanent mobility disability since birth and was
included in the provisions of the law regarding the care for the
disabled. After the issuance of law No. 8/2010, her client was
surprised to fi nd that her disability had been changed to a minor
one, even though her health condition had not improved. This
violated her le-gal status.
The court stated in its justifi cations that it is not
permissible for the con-cerned committee to reassess the
dis-ability of those affected based on the criteria brought about
by the new legis-lation, due to the waste of their legal po-sitions
acquired under the previous law. This is in addition to depriving
them of the rights that the provisions of the current law have
created in terms of ful-fi lling the provisions of the constitution
without justifi cation. The law, espe-cially since the last Law No.
8/2010, the texts of which came in its commanding form, was devoid
of a provision that includes the retroactive enforcement of its
provisions regarding the description of disability and the
determination of its type and degree on those who were affected by
the previous law, and they acquired this description in accordance
with its provisions.
❑ ❑ ❑
KD 4 stolen from teen: Personnel from the Jaber Al-Ahmad Police
Station are looking for three un-known persons for robbing four
di-nars, cellphone, civil ID and a bank card from a 17-year-old,
reports Al-Anba daily.
However, what exactly happened is not known since the ‘victim’
was allegedly driving a vehicle without a licence.
According to a security source, a Kuwait born in 1974, said his
son asked to borrow his car because someone had invited him for
dinner nearby and after returning from din-ner he told his father
that he had been robbed.
‘We feel insecure’
‘Strangers in area’KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh area
has been suffering for many years, mostly due to the large presence
of bachelors, wide-spread crime of thefts, and dilapi-dated
infrastructure of roads and sanitation among others, reaching the
extent of importing problems from nearby areas such as Ab-basiya
and Al-Hassawi, reports Al-Anba daily.
Wanting to shed light on the most important challenges in Jleeb
Al-Shuyoukh area, the daily met with a number of citizens liv-ing
there to hear their opinions and convey their complaints and
de-mands to the competent authori-ties. The Kuwaiti residents of
the area affi rmed the lack of security and stability due to the
large dis-placement of expatriates to the area. They demanded the
need to withdraw government homes from those who rent or use them
as shops and stores, and give them to deserving citizens.
The residents said the area in-cludes only 550 houses and its
streets are crowded with vehicles for its location near the
garages, indicating that they feel like they are strangers in their
area.
They called on the concerned authorities to expedite in saving
the situation before it is too late.
News in Brief
Al-Habib
Other Voices
Dr Shafi qa and piety claimantBy Ahmad alsarraf
There is no act more arbitrary than a deputy exploiting the
National Assembly platforms to attack the weak citizens and state
employees for not responding to his peculiar requests, or to pass
transactions that may be illegal, a phenomenon that is not new but
is increasing.
MP Osama Al-Munawer, whose military activ-ity in Syria is we l l
-known, has used his parliamentary seat to attack the director of
the disability authority, Dr. Shafi qa Al-Awadhi and accused her of
bad man-nerism at the authority and that she did not respect him
and turned down his request to grant a license to Dr. AS to open a
private school for the handicapped inside a residential area saying
the authority had issued such licenses to others.
All attempts made by Dr. Shafi qa to explain to the MP that the
license for that school was issued four years ago, followed by a
law banning the opening of private schools for the handicapped in
residential areas was futile and said the aggrieved party has the
right to resort to the judiciary.
The MP did not like the director’s insistence to stand with her
stance, so he acted in a strange manner -- as a former minister
told me -- and threat-ened her, after insulting her in front of her
superiors.
It is also said that he followed the same method with another
doctor working in the Ministry of Health, and threatened to
complain to the minister, and to question him if no ac-tion was
taken against her. It appears from all of this that the deputy is
in a hurry to prove his presence, and to make use of the
parliamentary seat as much as he is able to!
I am not defending Dr. Shafi qa Al-
Awadhi or others and I do not think that she is an ideal
director, as we are all human beings, and only those who deal with
her as the guardian of a disabled person knows the truth about the
work of the disability authority.
I have gone through several experi-ences with more than one
director of the authority, over a period of thirty years, and I
witnessed the administra-tive and psychological pressures that a
number of them were subjected to, including representatives and
senior executives to pass illegal transactions.
Add to this the rampant corruption in the authority, and the
strange sto-ries of citizens and employees within the authority and
their violation of the law by forging disability certifi cates
bearing the signatures and seals of doctors, former and current, in
the Ministry of Health, and causing the theft of state funds.
Such manipulation prompted those with conscience to act in an
offi cial and resolute manner with everyone, knowing that otherwise
means either that they suffer a nervous breakdown, as a result of
the large number of demands, pressures and infringe-ments, or
wasting time in meeting the satisfaction of every applicant, and
accepting the illegal transactions as happened in the past, in
order to satisfy a deputy and others, especially since the number
of visitors to the are hundreds per day, and the demand for
salaries, benefi ts and bonuses for the disabled is large, and the
numbers of the disabled continues to rise.
In his speech in which he attacked Dr. Shafi qa, the MP revealed
that opening a school for the disabled is fi -nancially rewarding,
as the State pays 7,000 dinars annually for every disa-bled person,
in addition to what is col-lected from parents, therefore the
is-sue may be a desire to achieve wealth at the expense of the law,
not a claim to a right and this – if true – is some-thing that a
person of conscience will not accept, especially when pressure
comes from those who claim piety.
❑ ❑ ❑
e-mail: [email protected]
Marine rescuers looking for the missing ‘son’.
Al-Matar
alsarraf
-
LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020
5
Project a brainchild of late Sheikh Nasser Sabah
Political leadership to keep ‘Al-Harir’ ball rollingBy Salem
Al-WawanAl-Seyassah Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: High-level political sources have put hopes
in realizing the dream of implementing the Northern Economic Zone
project, the brainchild of former First Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of De-fense late Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad, may God
have mercy on him.
The same sources said the political leader-ship is interested in
the project, and the new gov-ernment recom-mended that the general
plan of the Madinat Al-Harir (Silk City)
that was concluded be quickly im-plemented — the plan that was
un-der the supervision and follow-up of Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah.
The sources emphasized a deci-sion is expected to be issued
shortly to assign one of the sons of the rul-ing family to continue
the march of the late First Deputy Prime Minis-ter to implement the
project and to follow up the issuance of necessary
laws and legislation and distribution of the roles and
responsibilities be-tween the legislative and executive
authorities. The sources said the as-signee had earlier
participated in the work of Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah.
The sources also talked about the vision about the dimensions of
the project, its economic feasibility, and its legal and fi nancial
requirements, and the problems and complications
that faced its implementation and hindered the march.
The project aims to put Kuwait on the map of global tourism, by
estab-lishing an economic zone to establish development projects in
all areas of investment and contribute to mak-ing Kuwait a global
fi nancial center, achieving sustainable comprehensive development
and attracting industrial, commercial, service and tourism in-
vestments and fi nancial activities.The government had referred
a
draft law in this regard to the pre-vious National Assembly last
Sep-tember, and had requested that it be given urgency.
The draft presented at the time in-cluded radical changes
compared to the previous draft, which had to be withdrawn after
widespread parlia-mentary objections.Sheikh Nasser
GCC ministers discuss railwaysand maritime transport issues
Amendment of name of Int’l Land Transport Law in GCC eyed
By Muhammad GhanemAl-Seyassah Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: Minister of State for Housing Affairs and
Minister of State for Services Affairs Dr Abdullah Ma’arafi took
part in the twenty-second meeting of the transport and
commu-nications ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which
dis-cussed the recommen-dations and proposals that were submitted
by the undersecretaries of the Gulf ministries of transport and
commu-nications during their virtual meeting last week.
Ma’arafi said in a press statement the meeting which was held
last Thurs-day is complementary to the previous meetings of GCC
ministers of Trans-port and Communications to look at the latest
agreed recommendations and pro-posals of interest to the GCC
countries to imple-ment the wishes of GCC leaders to promote joint
co-operation and adopt related projects of joint benefi ts.
Regarding the establish-ment of the Gulf Railways Authority,
Ma’arafi indicat-ed that it was recommended to approve the contents
of the fi nal study report and give nod for the proposed body which
is to be called the ‘Gulf Railways Agency’ as well as the
organizational structure and headquarters of the agency, in
addition to discussing many topics such as the project’s
operational plan and schedule.
He added many issues re-lated to maritime transport were
discussed and approved, such as the unifi ed conditions and
controls for granting small marine driving licenses, the unifi ed
model for the driver’s license, the approval of up-dates to the
rules and instruc-tions for ports, in addition to updates to the
list of safety of ships with small tonnage which are not covered by
in-ternational maritime treaties.
Also discussed were sev-eral issues of land transport between
countries, the most important of which is the amendment of the name
of the International Land Trans-port Law among the GCC
countries.
Photos by Bassam Abu ShanabKuwaitis and expatriates line up to
get themselves vaccinated against the new coronavirus at the
Mishref Interna-
tional Fairgrounds. (Inset) an elderly citizen being helped
inside the facility.
Photo by Rizk Taufi qGarbage dumped around one of the abandoned
houses.
Concerned authorities faulted
Northern Shuwaikh ghost town ... a hotbed for stray dogs,
catsKUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: The headquarters of public benefi t
associations and civil soci-ety institutions in the Shuwaikh area,
which was evacuated in mid-2013, at the request of the Kuwait
Municipality, has been trans-formed into a dumpsite and become a
hot-bed for stray dogs, cats and rodents.
To add insult to injury the demolition of these buildings and
turning them into dis-mal ruins distort the cultural landscape of
the area, and nobody seems to be interested in paying attention to
this fact.
The story began in 2000 when the Mu-nicipality set out to remove
some public benefi t associations from that area based on a
decision No 23/452/14/2000 which was issued on Sept 20, 2000, which
stipulated in the fi rst clause approval of organizing the northern
Shuwaikh area and creating 65 plots of land with an area of 32,500
square meters, in addition to a request to terminate the contracts
signed with the public benefi t associations located in this
area.
The public benefi t societies in that area were given more than
one deadline to evacu-ate, the last of which was in 2013, but some
of these societies continued to operate until the electricity was
cut off about 4 years ago, and the Municipality based its decision
on the fact that there are public benefi t organi-zations and
associations that exploit sites in the Shuwaikh area while they
already have permanent headquarters in other regions.
The international human rights advi-sor, Anwar Al-Rasheed, says
the northern Shuwaikh region has become deserted and ugly, and it
is indeed a city of ghosts — the region that housed Human Rights
Associa-tion and some public benefi t associations.
The former vice-president of the Associ-ation of Accountants and
Auditors, Abdul-latif Al-Ahmad, indicated that the associa-tion was
evacuated years ago, and until now the association’s meetings are
taking place in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry until the
building of the association is com-
pleted in Salmiya.Al-Ahmad stated that the history of
building the Kuwaiti Association of Ac-countants and Auditors
dates back to the beginning of the 1970s and with great regret the
historical aspect of construction was not taken into consideration
and a decision was issued to evacuate the public benefi t
soci-eties from the northern Shuwaikh area de-spite the costs
incurred by these societies in establishing and these
societies.
He indicate the public benefi t associa-tions were supposed to
continue the activi-ties in North Shuwaikh until each associa-tion
received a new headquarters, but what happened is that electricity
to the associa-tions was cut off years ago.
He stressed on the state’s failure to ex-ploit the northern
Shuwaikh area until now because the area is still in ruins once
again confi rming the clear failure from the con-cerned authorities
to pay attention to the cultural appearance of Kuwait.
‘Renew residency before the year ends or pay fi ne’KUWAIT CITY,
Dec 27: The Public Authority for Manpower has warned those whose
residency will expire before January 12 not to fall into problems
and end up paying fi nes. The PAM sources said those who fall in
this category must renew or extend their residence permits during
the few remaining days of this week.
The sources pointed out next Thursday is the last date for
complet-ing transactions — renewal or transfer — because the
automated system will then be suspended for two weeks in
preparation to launch a new system.
New website: MoJKUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: The offi cial spokesperson
of the Ministry of Justice and Director of the Public Relations and
Media De-partment Issa Al-Bishir an-nounced that the ministry has
launched the new website of the Kuwait Institute for Ju-dicial and
Legal Studies, re-ports Al-Anba daily.
In a press statement, Al-Bishir explained that this new website
has been launched after several modi-fi cations that conform to
recent developments in the technological fi eld to view its
contents and news.
The site contains news, studies and publications of the
institute in addition to its various activities at the local,
regional and interna-tional levels. It will serve as a bridge for
communication among the institute, research-ers, scholars and those
inter-ested in the legal and judicial fi elds, especially in light
of the epidemiological circum-stance that imposes social distancing
on everyone as a method of prevention, which strengthens and
consecrates its content and reinforces the procedures used as a
method for remote access.
-
LOCAL/GULFARAB TIMES, MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020
6
Gulf confronts COVID-19, witnessed major events in 2020Saudi
suspends air traffic following discovery of mutated virus
By Sara Al-Mukhaizeem
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27, (KUNA): The Arab Gulf region has
experienced many crucial events throughout 2020, foremost the novel
coronavirus pan-demic which brought the whole world to a
standstill.
Following are major events in the Gulf area, showing how Gulf
countries confronted the pandem-ic, which affected life in
general.
The GCC:Feb 19: GCC health ministers
declared precautionary measures at border exits of the six GCC
states to cope with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) during an
extraordinary meeting.
May 15: GCC ministerial commit-tee imposed anti-dumping fees on
all kinds of hydraulic cement imports from Iran for five years.
June 11: GCC education ministers hold an exceptional online
meeting for the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States
(ABEGS).
Saudi Arabia:Jan 3: Saudi Arabia declared hold-
ers of US, British, or Schengen visas could enter Saudi Arabia
after obtain-ing a visa at one of the airports or border exits.
Jan 4: Dakar Rally 2020 was inau-gurated for the first time at
the Asian level in Jeddah. Up to 556 racers from 62 countries had
taken part in the rally.
Jan 7: Saudi security personnel detained a top notorious
terrorist in Al-Qatif. He was charged with killing a judge,
looting, and shooting security men.
Feb 5: The Saudi Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia
(Zain KSA) posted USD-129-million-worth of net profits in the
fis-cal year that ended in late December 2019, at a growth rate of
46 percent.
Feb 22: Saudi Arabia suspended travels to Iran as a precaution
against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Feb 25: A Royal Order dismissed Minister of Civil Service
Suleiman Al-Hamdan and Information Minister Rurki Al-Shabanah. It
also merged the ministry of civil service with the min-istry of
justice and social development and named it the Ministry of Human
Resources and Social Development. Moreover, the Ministry of
Commerce and Investment was named as the Ministry of Commerce.
Feb 25: A Royal Order named the Public Investment Authority as
the Ministry of Investments and the Public Sports Authority as the
Ministry of Sports. Moreover, the Public Tourism Authority and
National Heritage was renamed the Ministry of Tourism.
Feb 25: A Royal Order named Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki as bin
Faisal as Minister of Sports and Ahmad Al-Khatib as Minister of
Tourism and Khaled Al-Faleh as Minister of Investments.
Feb 28: Saudi Arabia suspended entry of GCC countries’ citizens
to
Makkah and Madina.March 2: Saudi Arabia declared the
first infection case of the novel coro-navirus (COVID-19). It
was of an incoming Iranian national.
March 4: In a temporarily measure, Saudi Arabia suspended Umra
for citi-zens and residents in line with a rec-ommendation by the
supreme commis-sion for follow-up on the novel coro-navirus
(COVID-19).
March 7: Saudi Ministry of Health called on arrivals from Italy,
South Korea, Egypt, and Lebanon to isolate themselves at home for
two weeks as of the date of their arrival in the coun-try.
March 7: Saudi Ministry of Education declared suspension of
studies in the eastern Al-Qatif region for two weeks.
March 7: The general chairman of Al-Masjid Al-Haram and
Al-Masjid Al-Nabawi, Dr. Abdurahman Al-Sodais, declared a Royal
Order allowing worshippers who were not performing Umra to circle
Al-Kaaba.
March 7: Saudi Ministry of Sports declared suspending
indefinitely fans’ attendance of all sports activities.
March 8: Saudi Ministry of Education indefinitely suspended
teaching in all regions and provinces as part of the fight against
the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
March 9: Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz donated USD 10 million
for the World Health Organization for combating the novel
coronavirus.
March 11: Saudi Ministry of Health declared the first recovery
cases from the novel coronavirus.
March 12: Saudi Arabia declared suspending travels by citizens
and residents in addition to halting flights to countries where the
novel coronavi-rus spread.
March 14: Saudi Arabia declared suspending air flights for two
weeks; exempting extraordinary cases.
March 15: Saudi Arabia suspended in a temporary manner marine
voyages to a number of countries, exempting shipping, in a measure
against the pan-demic.
March 15: Saudi Arabia declared civil servants’ show up at
workplaces for 16 days, excluding health, security, military, and
e-security.
March 20: Saudi Arabia suspended internal air flights, impounded
buses, taxicabs, and trains for 14 days to stem the spread of the
contagion.
March 23: Saudi Ministry of Interior imposed a USD 27,000 fine
on violators of a curfew. The fine could be doubled if the offense
repeated.
March 24: Saudi Arabia declared the first death with the
pandemic. It was of an Afghan resident.
March 30: Saudi Ministry of Interior declared enforcement of
addi-tional precautionary measures, extend-ing the curfew in some
residential dis-tricts in Makkah.
April 2: Saudi Interior Ministry announces a complete curfew in
all parts of the two holy cities of Makkah and Madina until further
notice.
April 3: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman ordered payment of SAR nine
billion in financial support to over 1.2 million citizens working
in the private
sector facilities, which are hit by the rapid spread of
coronavirus.
April 6: Saudi Interior Ministry announced a complete curfew
Jeddah, Taif, Qatif, Khobar, Riyadh, Tabook, Dammam, Dhahran, and
Al-Hafof until further notice.
April 11: Saudi Arabia announced USD 25 million to support the
Yamani government’s efforts to confront the new Coronavirus
pandemic.
April 15: suspended air trafic for a week following discovery of
a mutated Covid-19 virus approved a package of additional
initiatives to mitigate impacts of Coronavirus on economic
activities and the private sector.
April 16: Saudi Minister of Education issued a decision to
transfer all male and female students of general education to the
grades that follow their current classes.
April 16: Saudi Arabia announces a USD-500-million contribution
to sup-port international efforts to face Coronavirus.
April 21: Saudi Interior Ministry announced curfew hours change
dur-ing the holy month of Ramadan between 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
April 22: The General Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques
approved the performance of the Tahajjud and Taraweeh prayers with
the suspension of attendance of worshipers to prevent the spread of
the Coronavirus.
April 26: Saudi Arabia signed a USD-265.3-million contract with
China to conduct nine million tests for COVID-19.
April 26: Saudi Arabia partially lifted coronavirus curfew
nationwide, with the exception of Makkah and previously isolated
neighborhoods.
May 7: Saudi Interior Ministry approved a list of rules on
limiting gatherings, and classify violations as part of the
government’s efforts to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus
nationwide.
May 23: A complete curfew starts in all cities and provinces of
the Kingdom until May 27.
May 28: Saudi government changes hours of the curfew in the
entire Kingdom’s cities starting from 06:00 a.m. to 03:00 p.m.
until May 30.
May 31: All government agencies and their affiliates resumed
work remotely with 50 percent of its employees.
May 31: General Authority for Civil Aviation resumed domestic
flights through national airlines.
June 2: An online Yemen Pledging Conference -- co-organized by
Saudi Arabia -- collected USD 1.350 billion to support the Yemeni
people.
June 4: Foreign Ministry allocated USD 150 million for the
Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization (GAVI) to contribute
to the global response to the coronavirus pandemic.
June 17: Saudi Arabia’s giant Aramco bought 70 percent of SABIC
in a USD-69.1-billion in mega-deal.
June 21: Saudi Arabia lifted its nationwide curfew resumed
economic and commercial activities.
June 23: Saudi lifted the suspension of sports activities,
allowing all clubs to resume practices.
June 23: Saudi Arabia to hold Hajj
with limit the number of pilgrims from Saudi Arabia only for
those under 65 years old, who do not suffer from any chronic
diseases.
July 29: Saudi Arabia offered a new mechanism for the Yemeni
govern-ment and the southern transitional council to accelerate the
implementa-tion of the Riyadh Agreement, includ-ing the extension
of the ceasefire that entered force on June 22.
July 30: King Salman bin Abdulaziz was discharged from King
Faisal Hospital after undergoing surgery to remove the bladder.
Aug 4: Saudi Arabia allowed entry of trucks coming from GCC
countries.
Aug 30: The Kingdom began a sev-en-week online public
education.
Aug 30: Saudi Arabia announced the discovery of oil and gas
fields in the north.
Sept 13: Riyadh said citizens could travel starting January 1,
2021.
Sept 23: Saudi Arabia allowed Muslims to perform Umra starting
October 4 within precautionary health measures.
Sept 27: ARAMCO exported the first high-quality Blue Ammonia to
Japan.
Oct 15: Arab coalition said 19 coalition prisoners -- 15 Saudis
and four Sudanese -- returned to King Salman Airbase as part of the
first phase of prisoners’ exchange between the Yemeni government
and Houthi militias.
Oct 18: Saudi authorities allowed the public inside the Kingdom
to pray in the holy mosque in Makkah ending a seven-month
suspension due to the coronavirus.
Nov 12: Saudi Embassy in the Netherlands said the mission in the
Hague was attacked but no one was injured.
Nov 22: G20 leaders, meeting under Saudi presidency called for
coordina-tion of international efforts and soli-darity to confront
challenges.
Nov 23: Saudi Arabia said Houthis attacked a fuel distribution
center in northern Jeddah causing fire in one of the tanks. No one
was hurt.
Dec 14: Ministry of Energy said an oil tanker docked in Jeddah
was attacked by a booby-trapped boat causing limited fire. No one
was hurt.
Dec 15: King Salman announced projected spending in 2021 budget
would be 900 billion riyals (USD 264 billion) and revenues at 849
billion riyals (USD 226.4 billion), with an estimated deficit of
141 billion riyals (USD 37.6 billion), or 4.9 percent of GDP.
Dec 20: Ministry of Interior sus-pended air traffic for a week
following discovery of a mutated Covid-19 virus.
The Kingdom of Bahrain:Jan 2: King Hamad bin Isa
Al-Khalifa appointed Dr. Abdulatif Al-Zayani as Minister of
Foreign Affairs upon the end of his tenure as GCC
Secretary-General.
Feb 24: Bahrain declared the first infection case with the novel
coronavi-rus. It was of an incoming Iranian.
Feb 25: Ministry of Education sus-pended teaching for two weeks
as a precaution against COVID-19.
March 16: Bahrain declared the first death with the pandemic. It
was of a female citizen, aged 65. The deceased has suffered from
chronic diseases.
March 17: Bahrain declared the extension of studies’ suspension
indef-initely after a two-week halt as of the 25th of the past
month.
March 23: Bahrain indefinitely stopped group prayers and Friday
prayers at mosques.
April 20: Bahraini government reduc-es the spending of
ministries and govern-ment agencies by 30 percent as part of the
measures to help confront the impact of the new Coronavirus
pandemic.
Aug 20: Bahrain cancels home quarantine condition for travelers
but said would continue testing.
Sept 29: The Kingdom announced three-day mourning and flags to
be flown at half-mast following the pass-ing away of Amir of Kuwait
Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
Nov 11: The Royal Court announced the passing away of Prime
Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, and King Hamad bin
Isa Al-Khalifa appointed Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa
as Prime Minister.
Nov 29: Formula 1 Mercedes Team lead driver Lewis Hamilton won
Bahrain’s race in 2020.
The State of Qatar:Jan 28: Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad appointed Sheikh Khaled bin Khalifa as Prime
Minister.
Feb 18: Qatar declared the first coronavirus infection case.
March 9: Qatar halted until further notice classes at schools
and colleges as part of the fight against COVID-19.
March 9: Qatar banned the entry of citizens from a number of
countries due to the coronavirus.
March 12: Qatar discharged the first batch of citizens from
quaran-tines, after they were evacuated from Iran two weeks earlier
due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
March 13: Qatari Amir ordered urgent aid for Iran to help in
coping with the coronavirus spread.
March 14: Qatari Ministry of Health recovery of the first four
coro-navirus cases.
March 15: Qatar halted all incom-ing air flights and studies of
all levels for 14 days as a precaution against COVID-19.
March 28: Qatar declared its first death with the coronavirus.
He was identified as a 57-year-old Bangladeshi.
Apri