‘Kuwaitis committed to solidarity’

‘Govt must continue current performance’

“ALL citizens are unanimous in a dear wish, which is the continuation of the current government performance, as a usual approach to this government and future governments,” columnist and former director of the Culture Department at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, wrote for daily.

“No one hopes that the sin of what happened after the liberation will be repeated, hopes were high but the behavior was disappointing, as instead of benefiting from the lesson of harsh invasion and pursuit of reform and development, there was widespread corruption and counterfeiting, disappointing government performance and a decline in society’s culture and institutions.

“This crisis revealed that the problem was not with the approach of choosing ministers and leaders only, and not only in the poor performance of ministers, but the basis lies in government mismanagement, with respect for all, we may have had better ministers than we are now, but their performance was poor and their initiatives were besieged because of the approach.

“With my due respect to all, may be some of the previous ministers, were better than the existing ones, but their (the previous ministers) performance was poor, let alone that their initiatives were besieged due to the method followed by the then governments.

“And if we do not benefit in the future from the lessons of this crisis, we will lose a lot, the economy and the performance of institutions will collapse, and also the values and civil behavior and commitment to the law will collapse.

“Not just that, but the values, the civilized behaviors and the commitment to the valid law will collapse, let alone that we shall lose the spirit of initiative and that of sacrifice which had been showed by the Kuwaiti people through its unique enthusiasm towards its homeland where this had gained the appreciation of the observers throughout the world.

“In other words, popular and official energies were trapped in the bottle of frustration, and it sees Kuwait’s flesh ravaged by corruption, the arsenal of laws that restrict freedoms, the marginalization of creativity and initiative, and highlighting Kuwaiti identity, and it needed gesture, gratitude and appreciation from leaders and officials, and it needed a country in which law prevails over all and reigns in addition to the prevalence of the social justice..

“However, the required change is not only in the speed of work and achievement, but the required change is in the essence of the societal culture, whose beautiful values have deteriorated since after the liberation, and the culture will not change automatically, but rather requires a firm and clear governmental will, by controlling the uncontrolled behavior and chaos, which generates violence and prejudices of intolerance, backwardness of culture and social behavior, absence of belonging and the patriotism behavior.

“The civil mentality in Kuwait developed early, corruption of organization and civil society institutions since the beginning of the last century, but before it, the society was known in the past for its sympathy and solidarity, in the face of construction and external aggressions, and in natural disasters and health and living crises, and the Kuwaitis have proved that they are still committed to their method, as such the government should pay the necessary attentions to this fact.”

Al-Rujaib

“Lately, we have been hearing reports about plans to impose total lockdown and isolation on some areas in Kuwait, especially those inhabited by a large number of expatriates. Also, we have received news on how the country will be divided if the decision is taken to impose total lockdown”, columnist Rtd Col

wrote for daily. “The scenario suggests that Kuwait is to be divided into three regions, and top of the list are areas that are densely populated by expatriates. Despite my awareness of the importance of such measures that aim at limiting the spread of the coronavirus, I believe there will be difficulties in implementing the strategy on ground.

“One of the reasons being the geographic regions to be covered, which have been described as potential hotspots, due to their high population density. The places in question are inhabited by large numbers of expatriate workers with multiple outlets and exits, in addition to areas with mild spots, and I do not think the Ministry of Interior has the human resource capacity and necessary equipment to control all of these regions properly.

“Even if the army and the National Guard were used to fill the shortage of necessary manpower for manning those areas, these supporting manpower are not trained to deal directly with the public in such exceptional circumstances. The question that arises is: Has a joint security command from the relevant military forces been formed to coordinate and determine who will lead such operations?

“The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) orders must be known and made clear to all and applied in such circumstances. The aim of these orders is to know what the reaction of every force should be in the event of turmoil, especially as the majority of the target group is considered to lack proper awareness of the circumstances.

“There should be a media campaign targeting each area based on the situation on the ground. Such campaigns should provide proper information such as where and how to get health services and basic supplies, in addition to awareness SMS to help the public grasp the importance of following the measures instituted by the State to contain the spread of this deadly virus. I ask the Almighty Allah to protect Kuwait and all humanity from the evil of corona pandemic.”

“The word ‘Eureka’ is a Greek word which means ‘I met her’ and ‘I found her’. The most famous person to use this word is the Greek scientist Archimedes in the third century BC. He was running naked among people after a warm bath and that’s when he came up with the idea of finding out the size of an object by putting it in the water. When he saw that the water had been spilled, he took a bath full of water,” wrote for daily.

“However, we do not want anyone to meet or search for especially in such exceptional circumstance that requires no hesitation, especially in many projects and decisions that need to be implemented and executed.

“I do not know why the current Minister of Finance is not taking an advanced step in holding meetings through video conference calls in the conventional and social media to explain and clarify the draft law on borrowing as well as the amendments and updates made to it, and to give ample guarantees in determining the aspects of exchange.

“A lot of profits are being withheld in agencies and institutions. The value of the law reaches and exceeds the charges and suspicions we see through what is being traded by sharp shares on the accounts of some Twitter users, which have reached heresies, hallucinations and misleading information. The most prominent among them is treason and selling state assets to the private sector, especially from campaigners of “but smashed” and “loan waiver for distressed debtors”!

“The matter has no correlation or relationship with what is published in an organized manner. His Excellency the Minister of Finance has confined himself to declaring the public debt law. He said the bill has absolutely nothing to do with the government’s permission to borrow “public debt” with the economic package or the repercussions of the economic crisis of the coronavirus.

“The referral of the draft law authorizing the government to borrow “public debt” on April 1, 2020 to the National Assembly is in light of the discussions and deliberations that took place between members of the Parliament’s Financial and Economic Committee and representatives of relevant government agencies about the draft law referred by the government on August 17, 2017. It was agreed that the government will submit an amendment to the bill.

“It stipulates, “The government is authorized within a period not exceeding 20 years starting from the date of the law’s implementation of a public loan contract or financing operations, provided it does not exceed 60 percentage of the GDP as follows:

1. Link KD 8 billion to the financing of the budget deficit.

2. KD 12 billion will be conditional on the value of the capital projects registered in the budget and used only for these projects. This confirms that the project is the same project agreed upon with members of the Parliament’s Finance and Economic Committee on Jan 18, 2018.”

“This law has absolutely nothing to do with either the economic crisis or the implications of the economic crisis of the coronavirus. And such a statement should be expanded in explanation and clarification with the provision of conditional guarantees not to introduce citizens and residents to bear the burdens of public debt as it is happening in many countries of the world and to move forward in adopting such a law, which is a late excuse to pass many of the outstanding laws, the first of which is taxes. We do not want to wake up to being captive in the calculation of hostages, debts and numbers. This draft law needs a review in the non-hesitation for generations and the future.”

“In most of the civilized countries in the world, the position of a minister and an official is mandated, not honorable,” columnist wrote for

daily. “Therefore, we find the minister in such countries receiving a modest salary, compared to what his counterparts in third world countries are receiving. He is deprived of the privileges enjoyed by ordinary people. Supervision over him is strict and precise, so the public job does not become a target for accumulation of wealth and prestige.

“In the West, you see a minister riding various kinds of simple cars and sitting in simple offices until the message reaches the people that this place is to serve them, not to show off to them! The situation in Kuwait and other Arab countries is very different from the rest of the developed countries.

“The public job is primarily for some. Unfortunately, it is very important to raise the financial level and social status of its owner, so it is not surprising to witness fighting, competition and wars to reach that position!

“The salaries of ministers and directors of the organizations exceed KD12,000 as well as the KD100,000 granted to them annually to improve the situation! This is in addition to the excellent works and bonuses of committees they participate in, and the pocket money for travel and foreign missions! Thus, it is not surprising that the public job has become a goal and a target!”

“Kuwait, like all countries in the world, suffers from the repercussions of the coronavirus (COVID19). It occupies the center of global leadership in terms of the proactive measures taken by the Ministry of Health in coordination with other relevant ministries and guided by the instructions of the World Health Organization. From the beginning of the pandemic, it has been able to limit the transmission and contain the virus because of the positive steps taken in this regard,” columnist Attorney wrote for daily.

“This matter was praised by the high leadership and all spectra of the Kuwaiti people. The government plays an effective role in taking decisive measures to curb the spread of the virus, guarantee food security and maintain the system.

“Among the most important measures taken was the partial curfew from 5:00 pm until 6:00 am. It was effective in the government’s attempt to control the virus, such that the hours for people to roam around are limited for necessary and urgent needs like purchasing commodities or visiting hospitals and pharmacies.

“With the development of the epidemic at the global level, the experts said there are four stages of development. One of the most complex of these stages is the local transmission in what is known as epidemiological investigation. The government deals with this stage seriously and consistently, as the daily statistics of the Ministry of Health indicates that the spread is limited to marginal workers. These workers are the largest casualties of human traffickers, while other cases for Kuwaitis are linked to travel abroad.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb