Failaka island development eyes urban expansion, to create thousands of jobs
DGCA denies British Airways flights’ suspension reports
KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti economic study predicted Failaka island residents to grow to become 200,000 at a certain point using 187 megawatts of solar power, especially since solar power technology has developed to be more competitive and 60 percent cheaper over the past ten years.
The study made by Dorar Group also showed that Failaka would include a real estate area located on eight percent of the island area to provide inhabitants with all public services. according to the study, the island will also attract over KD 1.8 investments, make an income of KD 22.1 million and provide jobs for 6,890 people.
Further, the study shows that Failaka would include a commercial zone providing a unique shopping experience, restaurants run by Kuwaiti chefs in addition to fashion design institutes where Kuwaiti designers study fashion and get in touch with international peers. The island will also include two shopping malls with 533 stores and 3,200 employees in each. The study also shows that Failaka would be environment-friendly using solar power.
British Airways
Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation denied yesterday news reports circulated about the suspension of flights operated by British Airways (BA) to the State of Kuwait. “There is no intention to stop this vital route between the two friendly countries,” Saad Al-Otaibi, DGCA’s official spokesman, said. He pointed out that aircraft of the British company are suspended temporarily due to the routine annual inspection of engines, adding that the company will continue operations to London by chartered aircraft during the period from 10 June to 1 July 2018.
Health insurance
The Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT) announced yesterday inaugurating health insurance service via the state electronic website. Qusai Al-Shatti, the agency Director General, said in a press statement the first phase of the project had been finalized in three months, explaining the service includes renewal of registration and fees’ payment. The online service will be helpful to shorten transactions, limit manipulations or counterfeiting and payment abstention.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh said the medical insurance service targets more than three million expatriates, affirming the government keenness on overhauling the services through technology employments, upgrading tasks’ quality and enhancing performance of various departments. He expressed hope that all government transactions would be eventually provided via mobile phones of citizens and expatriates and render the identity card sufficient for offering medical care.
Vietnam refinery
Kuwait Petroleum International (Q8) is coordinating with other sister companies (KPC subsidiaries) to send a number of Kuwaiti engineers to the Vietnam refinery to take part in operating the mega project and to gain more operational experience, well-informed sources said. The sources stressed the Vietnam refinery project is on the right track despite facing several challenges and overcoming them, the sources stressed. “The Vietnam refinery and petrochemicals complex is very vital to Kuwait,” the sources added, noting that crude oil is shipped there to be refined, and thus the returns are much higher by turning it into petrochemical products.
KPI had announced yesterday that it is now at the helm of Vietnam’s Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemicals LLC after the Vietnamese oil firm underwent a series of organizational reforms just months after the refinery’s startup. Vietnam’s second oil refinery is up and running and operations are already underway, KPI said in a statement. The $9 billion plant, co-owned by Kuwait Petroleum Europe BV and Japanese firms Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui Chemicals, has been designed to help Vietnam cope with a dearth of refined oil products.
Digital health insurance service launched
Eid Al-Fitr
The space and astronomy department at the Science Club announced that the first day of Eid Al-Fitr will fall on Friday, June 15. According to astronomical calculations, the new moon crescent is expected to be visible on Thursday the 29th of Ramadan at 7:27 pm, while sunset will be at around 6:47 pm, the director of KSC’s Department of Astronomy Ali Bu Abbas said. Eid Al-Fitr is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
21,643 applications
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) announced receiving 21,643 applications to establish companies in the period from the beginning of January until the end of May, 2018, and that 4,554 licenses had been issued for various types of business activities. MoCI added that 5,928 companies had been established in the same period, 3,063 are still being established and that 10,615 applications had been rejected.
Nagorno-Karabakh region
The ambassador of Azerbaijan to Kuwait Elkhan Gahraman expressed his country’s hopes that Kuwait will support it at UN Security Council on the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. He stressed Kuwait plays a great and active role at the Security Council. Gahraman also hailed his country’s relations with Kuwait, noting that they are very developed. He also commended lighting Kuwait Towers with Azerbaijan’s flag colors on its national day on May 28.
Gahraman said he had been posted in the UAE for eight years including Ramadan, which he insisted is different here in Kuwait and has its own charm. He added that he spends his time visiting various diwaniyas and attending ghabqas. Gahraman noted that Ramadan is similar in both Kuwait and Azerbaijan in terms of family gatherings at iftar and said that families in villages in Azerbaijan usually place meals for passersby in their front gardens during Eid Al-Fitr.
Bribery charges
A female Kuwaiti Ministry of Health (MoH) employee was sentenced to three years in prison and fined KD 8,000 over charges of demanding a bribe. Lawyer Mona Al-Arbash said that the crime was recorded on video, showing the employee asking for KD 4,000 to set an appointment for a patient to be seen and examined by a visiting doctor.