‘Learn to rely on yourself’
‘Make use of human resources’
“THE summit, which was held Sunday night in the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia, was attended by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, UAE Vice-President and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum and King Abdullah II of Jordan to encounter economic challenges currently facing the Kingdom — of course I mean Jordan, the government irrespective who is the prime minister — Omar Al-Razzaz or others and the people of the beautiful Jordanian Mosaic represented by all its components,” columnist and the director of Al-Shahed Satellite TV Channel Dr Hesham Al-Diwan wrote for Al-Shahed daily.
“In fact, it is a rescue summit through the three countries with the good aid package referred to as the financial package, which exceeded two and a half billion dollars. The situation of Jordan is crucial for the whole region, not just for Jordan.
“Our problem is that we Arabs and Muslims do not work. The Jordanians are creative, talented, industrialists and farmers. I do not know why one of the financially capable countries has not paid attention to the importance and vitality of the Jordanian arena and its authority to produce many of the needs of the Arab market.
“In other words, our problem in the whole Arab and Islamic world is in several things topped by relying on others to get all the consumer goods, medicine, ready-made food and all the necessities of life.
“For their part, the European countries have benefited from all the resources they have to build industrial, agricultural, scientific and financial markets.
“In the late 1980s, the then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher suspended the coal mines and oil fields in the north and focused her government’s programs on the industry, including different types of financial markets and industry of all kinds.
“During that time, she said it was possible to buy oil and gas at prices cheaper than its production and sale. But the Arab world is involved in excessive production and export of oil is not for development purposes as much as it is to take advantage of the money in providing jobs rather than productive careers.
“Previously, I had mentioned that the number of projects planned by Egypt and the loans it received to finance the operation of these projects is fantastic, creative thinking and civilized planning that meets the needs of the nation, addresses many problems and provides millions of job opportunities.
“But I am still afraid that the human resources are not ready to work and needs to be qualified and prepared to be able to manage and operate and activate these projects so as not to shift only to places to provide jobs and pay salaries and thus double the debt of the state and eventually aggravate the issue of veiled unemployment.
“Speaking of Jordan, at the very least, this country, in addition to agriculture, is able to restore its tourist status commercially in addition to medical tourism because Jordan has experienced and qualified doctors. Moreover, this country enjoys religious tourisms in the form of historical shrines that Arabs and others dream of visiting and seeing.
“Apart from the above, Jordan enjoys a significant entertainment tourism represented by Amman’s popular markets and the historical sites and artistic festivals in Jerash city and so on.
“However, we hope our beloved Jordan will bear us to say the ball currently is in their court as government and the people to promote the economy of their country. The money of the land does not dispense with the work, and from the development of economy that enriches any country from the need of help from other country.
“The donor countries through the Makkah summit have done their duty, but the rest shall remain in the hands of Jordan, particularly since the Jordanians are skilled, persevering and well-versed in marketing, trade and dealing with others.”
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“King Abdullah II who our Jordanian brothers call politely and respectably ‘Our Master’, this title is something historically due for the monarch of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan King Abdullah II,” columnist Thaar AlRashidi wrote for Al-Anba daily. “He is a Hashemite of high born lineage which has extended over a period of hundreds of years, and his family is deeprooted in governance and enjoys a unique situation which no one else does in the region and may be even in the world.
“We say the above, in spite of the change that has befallen the political map throughout the years during which his family had ruled many regions and countries. But King Abdullah II and since the very beginning of the years of his rule, has managed to maintain the political survival of his country in spite of storming of the political winds that faced him on internal and external levels.
“The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is divided between its borders and its social and topographical nature, the general shape of the Gulf countries. In this context, we elucidate that the rule of Jordan is royal, hereditary, a people of different races, and an internal political form similar to that of the Gulf states combined with minor differences only.
“In other words, the Jordanians look politically like us in the State of Kuwait to such an extent we look like twins. However, for those who are not concerned about following up the Jordanian political affair, we would like hereby to say that Jordan, was the first country in the region in terms of applying the election system of ‘one man one vote’ where some political powers had initially boycotted this system to express their opposition, but these powers later decided to participate in the same and as such the water has returned to its course.
“Hence, we as observers sometimes believe that any event that may occur in Jordan will later occur in our country, particularly in terms of the political decisions that are likely to be taken in dealing with the same.
“Not only that, we say anything that may politically succeed in Jordan will later be applied in our country motivated by our conviction that this is likely to succeed in our country.”
“Before we talk about the age of Kuwaiti oil, let us know what experts say about it. During the last international conference in Boston, the US warned of the profusion of wasteful exploration and consumption of oil, and said the global production reached its peak in late 2005,” columnist Dr Salah Al Ateeqi wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“The countdown started from that date, while research by some international companies working in this field indicates that the world has a reserve of up to 50 years, and gas to 60 years, if production continues at current rates,” as reported by the International Energy Agency two years ago.
“Half of the world reserves have run out, while some experts believe that the estimates are published around the world reserves are sometimes subject to political goals, causing problems in a situation where there are no reliable sources to carry out the estimation.
“Now what is the life span of Kuwaiti oil? Is it nearly running out? A scary question, because Kuwait without oil means going back to the 1930s and 1940s.
“In the 1970s, there was a debate in the National Assembly suggesting that the production be maintained within the land and start extracting reasonable quantities that meet the needs of the country only so that the oil lasts for as long as possible.
“Each year we are presented with opinions on the amount of the general reserve, some of which are optimistic and extendable for 100 years. Another alternative is to have new discoveries to strengthen the reserves and prolong the life of oil stock. There are also pessimistic views that talk of the need to find alternatives from now on to avoid the shock of depletion.
“Honestly speaking and without courtesy, oil is an asset that can be terminated at any time, and it is not incomegenerating, such as leasing an apartment or taking advantage of a permanent industry. Imagine that you have several buildings and sold one of them for a price to live a beautiful life, travel and be comfortable until the end of your money. Then sell the other, and so one day you have nothing to sell.
“This is the case of oil, so in countries which produce everything such as Norway and England, oil revenues are not included in their budgets, but their revenues go to the sovereign fund to invest them and make them profitable for other income.
“Does one of you imagine the scenario of depletion of oil? In this case, more than 3 million people will leave their country, and the buildings will become ruins. Each of us will have a single car for the whole family to save fuel, street lights will be turned off for fuel shortages at power stations, we will sleep on the roofs for cold breeze, we will have to dig wells again to stop water treatment plants, and many epidemics will spread due to closures of hospital.
“Some of us will not endure the hard life experienced by veterans like us, and will migrate to the vast land of God in order to earn a living.
“I cannot move because the scenario is tragic, so the officials should start from now reviewing and proposing alternatives, how to maintain the minimum decent living for our future generations, and to study or explore what states like ours have done.”
“A review of educational process since it was hijacked through the so-called religious uprising could easily decipher the number of crimes committed in the name of religious uprising,” columnist Saoud Al-Samakah wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“Close observers of education will notice that scientific researches are sold to some losers and unemployed individuals illegally to improve their chances of getting better jobs or promotion, besides the delivery of Masters and PhD degrees to individuals at the comfort of their houses without them doing any academic research, and soon after receiving those fake certificates, they occupy places as lecturers or take senior official posts.
“In the era of religious uprising, we have seen students demonstrating for the legalization of cheating in exams. Prior to this era, sectarianism and tribalism were unknown to Kuwait, but watching the warning issued by cleric Ahmad Al-Qattan in a video recorded thirty years ago confirmed the intention to instill fear in the authorities at that time so as to embrace the accursed uprising, while empowering its envoys to dominate a large section of the State bodies.
“Following the destruction of education, the tentacles of religious uprising started spreading to the political circle. They formerly prohibited participation in political activities but later changed their minds in a manner that confirmed their opportunistic nature. Since the inception of religious uprising, the whole country is failing in all aspects.
“They planted the seed of sectarianism and tribalism in society; started the Sunni uprising side by side with Shiite uprising and brought hatred and enmity to the nation that was always proud of its unity and tolerance. It continued blending religion with politics to the point where the tribes started isolating themselves from the State.”
“Yesterday, the Gulf states — Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — stood with their sister Jordan, a pleasing gesture that reflected the nature of Gulf people and their constant support for their Arab brethren in times of crises and stormy problems,” columnist Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily. “Jordan has tried to overcome its ordeal, but it has been unable to do so on its own, thus, it resorted to its sisters among the Gulf states for help. Jordan is a country without important or weighty resources. Therefore, this dear kingdom is passing through a suffocating economic crisis, which it tried to solve by taking decisions that provoked the ire of Jordanians.
“Jordanians took to the streets, demanding for cancellation of the decision to impose income tax. Nevertheless, the situation returned to normal immediately after the dissolution of the government and appointment of a new government along with the cancellation of the income tax decision.
“Arab countries must always be united and helpful to overcome failures in the Arab world and the devastating consequences of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’. We must always help each other to overcome all obstacles and tribulations.”
“Certainly, any sane person is aware that investment in education is one of the top priorities of societies and countries in order to build and develop them,” columnist Zayed
Al-Zaid wrote for Annahar daily. “Many countries are preoccupied with education and they lay down plans for investment in this field. Investment in education means investing in human minds as well as constructing universities, specialized colleges and research centers — all of which are beneficial to the countries.
“The development sought by the world is not the development of concrete buildings and roads, but the development of education. However, the compass of the government lost its direction.
“Instead of investing in the education of Bedouns, the government is blocking outstanding Bedoun students by placing obstacles before them and depriving them of the right to learn.”
“Fourteen-year-old Wassal Al-Sheikh Khalil had told her mother she wished to be buried at the spot where she will die, the site of the ‘dignity revolution’ between Israel and the Gaza Strip, or be buried near the grave of her grandfather,” columnist Hassan Al-Issa wrote for AlJaridah daily. “She has been martyred as one of the dozens of martyrs. The report also makes a mention of another Gazan family whose children went out to protest at the limits of injustice and misery. The family remained for several months, like many other families in Gaza moved from one apartment to another and from one place to another for their inability to provide housing because the blockade imposed on Gaza for more than a decade makes life impossible. The wish of young Wassal to become a martyr eventually came to pass.
“The dozens of such tales fascinate us because of the heroes, whom life becomes meaningless without the pangs of philosophy of existential absurdity, and death becomes the only way of salvation from the reality of eternal torment.
“Wassal did not choose her fate when she found herself in a state of misery the moment she was born in the world of permanent displacement and poverty. Once she matured, she reached the decision to risk her life and demonstrate to fulfill her wish of martyrdom for a cause imposed on her.
“The demonstrations for the return of Gazans to their homeland, most of whom have been displaced from Palestine in 1948 cannot be understood as a result of incitement from Hamas leaders, or that the rebels want to deny anything for Israel.
“Atef Abu-Saif wrote in The Guardian on May 14, ‘They want the future no more’. The author narrates his reality today in the misery and poverty of Gaza, while he was supposed to have been born in one of the luxury villas his grandfather owned in Haifa, but his grim reality in Gaza today negates his ‘dream’. It would have been possible had it not been for the historical treachery of his homeland.”