‘Open mosques before garages’
‘Resume Friday Prayer, let faithful pray’
“WITH the success of government measures to contain the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and the increase in cases of those recovering, compared to the decrease in the proportion of those who died as a result of this epidemic, and the success of the social distancing and isolation measures that have paid off, voices are calling for the reopening of economic activities, on the pretext that the Kuwaiti economy does not tolerate further closure, saying the suspension of economic activity will bring negative outcomes and increase the indebtedness and harm both the small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” columnist Dr. Hamad Mohammad AlMatar wrote for Al-Qabas daily. “This is in addition to the impoverishment of the social strata that are most closely related to daily economic activities, which is true and the results of negation to such an extent the problem of economic shutdown is not the problem of Kuwait alone but the entire world, and it is perhaps the biggest problem that countries and societies will face after the epidemic threat recedes.
“However, the statements of some officials over the government intention to gradually lift the partial ban post the end of the holy month of Ramadan, these statements talk about allowing some handcraft activities to resume their work in addition to reopening the restaurants, garages, the spare parts stores and so on, but in accordance with certain controls.
“But these statements do not talk at all about the reopening of the mosques and resumption of prayer services according to certain rules, as such, we wonder whether the priority should be given to the reopening of the mosques before the reopening of the garages, spare parts stores, restaurants and so on?
“Of course, we don’t suggest here the reopening of all mosques throughout the country, rather we suggest that some of them can be opened, provided preventive measures are applied including wearing of the masks by the worshippers and anyone who fails to abide by the standing instructions may not be allowed to enter the mosques.
“Meanwhile, we suggest that the concerned authorities in the country must apply the same actions that are currently applied at the Grand Holy Mosque in Makkah including the use of hand sanitizers to be placed at the entrance of the mosques, wearing of the mask by worshippers in addition to the application of the social distancing inside the mosque.
“Likewise, we call for the resumption of the Friday Prayer in accordance with the above conditions along with some specific procedures that should be enough to ensure the safety of the worshippers.
“As a matter of fact, the people need to see ‘the Houses of the Almighty Allah’ (the mosques) reopened to receive the Muslims to proclaim their faith in Allah during the crises, worship and the spiritual activities, that shall help his/her abilities for patience and eventually give him/her the hope that the crisis will vanish, given the fact that a Muslim will be in need of the above, more than his/her need for the handicraft shops, garages, spare parts stores and so on.
“In other words, the people need to pray to Almighty Allah inside the mosque to bring an end to the current ordeal. As such we suggest that we in Kuwait can benefit from the experiment of those who work at the Grand Holy Mosque in Makkah by allowing the worshippers to enter the mosques, provided they abide by the preventive and safety requirements.”
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“Many government officials have issued statements emphasizing the need to punish the visa traders or those who have filled the country with menial workers because the existence of such manpower represents a threat to national security and created a imbalance in the country’s population structure,” columnist Abdulmohsen Al-Husseini wrote for AlAnba daily. “In this connection, we say the Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Anas Al-Saleh, is the first senior official in the country, who has called for pursuing and punishing visa traders in the country. He is the only minister who has shown he is very active during the spread of coronavirus crisis and was mainly responsible for taking pre-emptive measures by the concerned authorities in the country.
“Apart from the above, the minister of Social Affairs has issued a statement in which she was quoted as saying the ministry will show no leniency when dealing with the residence traffickers, hinting that the government will take a decision whereby all cost related to the deportation of the menial workers will be borne by the visa traders.
“His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled, has called for punishing companies and visa traders which have brought into the country the ‘bulk labor’ and failed to provide them jobs, although some of these workers have paid money to have the opportunity to work in the country.
“The time has come for the state to take all measures to get rid of this bulk labor and not accept any mediations or interventions to prevent the state from taking legal measures to evacuate these huge quantities of menial workers.
“The National Assembly should play a role and this is their opportunity to show the extent of their keenness and patriotism to preserve the demographics and eliminate the chaos created by the so-called loose employment or menial workers.
“I was hoping that the deputies of the people would issue a statement that would assist the state’s procedures to hold companies and visa traders accountable and these companies would bear all the expenses related to harboring this labor and work to transfer them instead of issuing a statement to release some of those who are behind bars and are awaiting a court verdict.
“Hence, it would have been better for these MPs to issue necessary statements in support of the verdict, because these verdicts are issued by the judiciary, particularly since we know these MPs represent those who defend the democratic regime and the judiciary is an essential part of the democratic system. The National Assembly must play its role in eliminating corruption and correcting the situation.
“As a matter of fact, the coronavirus crisis has revealed the locations of corruption in the country, so the people’s deputies should intensify their efforts and devote themselves to helping the state to pursue those who are behind rampant corruption within the organs of the state.
“In other words, MPs must seize this opportunity to express their goodwill as well as their true objective in serving both the homeland and the citizens and begin with themselves by putting an end to favoritism (wasta) and stop issuing threats to grill ministers if the latter reject to succumb to their demands when they come with requests from their respective constituencies and relatives.
“The MP should feel that he/she is the representative of the entire nation and not the representative of a particular tribe or religious party and this means all of them must adopt the slogan ‘All for Kuwait and Kuwait for all’.”
“Who can be persuaded that the number of those who violate the partial curfew in Jahra Governorate, for example, is zero in some days, as well as other governorates where the population of citizens is much higher than that of expatriates, because those residing in governorates with high population are more afraid and therefore more committed to the curfew?” columnist Zaid Aljlewi wrote for AlSeyassah daily. “Which one should we believe, the bulletins of the Interior Ministry about the curfew or those who broke the curfew and said ‘there is no ban, nothing and the situation is out of control and the security forces in Jahra do not say anything’? This is according to my media source.
“As for the Capital Governorate, especially in areas with tribal majority, one of them asked me: ‘Why don’t you go out? The situation is okay.’ As for the diwaniyas, they are open night and day … until the curfew is lifted the next day.
“Kuwait is the last country where the epidemic will leave. Casualties will exceed hundreds – even up to a thousand or more per day – if HH the Prime Minister and his ministers continue to lose popular support, which they obtained at the beginning of the epidemic, because of their inability to handle the situation in a reassuring manner.
“It is unacceptable at a time other affected countries have started to record significant rates of decline in infections. It is noticeable that the rate of infections recorded by the Kuwaiti government is high. It does not accept that other governments have lifted some preventive restrictions, such as total and partial curfew, after conducting mass swab testing. We find our government paving roads during periods of restriction, without looking into isolated areas such as Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and Mahboula.”