Way to control behaviour

Other Voices

WBy Ahmad Al-Sarraf

hat happens if the traffic department obligates vehicle owners to write their names, in clear letters, on various parts of the vehicle, including the nationality of the driver?

What is the radical change that will take place if a security man asks every person to put his name and nationality on his clothes, as is the case with the security men on the front and the back, so that the person can be identified very easily?

What would we expect if every shop owner or gallery, small or big, wrote his name in neon light at the entrance?

Those who do not do so may be fined a large sum of money and may even be put in jail.

This will not happen, of course. It is difficult to apply, even in the most rigid and backward regimes, but we will imagine or assume that someone imposed it in Kuwait. What would be the result?

First, at least the number of criminals who involve in petty crimes will reduce, and even the serious crimes. Most of them commit crimes in full confidence or hope that they can commit their crimes without being identified. If their names were on their jackets, they would hesitate to do something wrong.

For example, careless drivers do what they do on the road feeling sure that neither their identity nor nationality is known by the rest of road users.

In another case, if a person throws

Al-Sarraf

waste (a bottle or an empty pack) from his car carelessly on the road or sidewalk, will think twice if the person’s name and nationality is written on the car and moreover, will also drive his car carefully.

He/she will respect the traffic laws, knowing that it is easy to identify him/her and thus stop this behavior for fear of punishment.

And so with the individual who smokes in the hospital rooms, will think a thousand times before doing so, if his name is written on his jacket, and will often respect his self and the nationality to which he belongs. He will be more rational and polite for fear his character will be known to everyone. The person will also become less aggressive.

We say this on the occasion of the government’s determination to authorize the re-paving of most of the roads, which were damaged by the rains last October, by our local contractors, most of whom are responsible for our current problem.

To deter these companies and to stop their expected violations and to force them to carry out their duties in a proper manner, I suggested to the Minister of Public Works to compel the relevant company to write its name and so the name of the owner of the company at the beginning and end of each road during the entire period of maintenance, so that officials of the Ministry of Public Works and regulatory bodies and citizens in general know the companies that manipulate and cheat in their work and thus expose them. I can say putting these signs will deter many construction companies from manipulations in their work.

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