Traffic dept, EPA urge govt to ban cars older than 10 years
MoH bans near-expiry medicines • Govt cracking down on fake degree holders
KUWAIT: Well-informed sources said the traffic department made a recommendation to the government to ban vehicles older than 10 years from the roads; a recommendation which has been seconded by the Environment Public Authority with the aim of resolving traffic congestions. The sources added that EPA believes that banning such vehicles will also limit pollution and carbon and other hazardous emissions. “The recommendation is not new,” the sources stressed, reminding that it was made a few years ago but was not discussed by the Cabinet. The sources explained that putting this recommendation into practice will not be an easy task for various reasons, such as a possible 50 percent drop in the spare parts business, but argued that such a justification is not warranted because even new vehicles might need spare parts after a year of use.
The sources also noted that the recommendation might go into effect if public transport was used more often and the metro project is executed. “The traffic department believes that decisive decisions have to be made about old vehicles because they pose a problem on the streets,” the sources concluded, reiterating that the recommendation was submitted to the Cabinet.
Separately, Health Minister Sheikh Dr Basel AlSabah announced yesterday banning all medicines, dietary and health supplements with less than 30 days’ validity. The ministry of health mentioned in a press release that this decision was intended to keep citizens healthy and spare them from any health risks. The ministry said as for chronic diseases, medicines should have an expiry date of at least 30 days - from the first to the last dose. The ministry added Sheikh Basel also announced pharmacists are prohibited from selling any un-prescribed medicines that contain gabapentin.
Separately, the government yesterday commended the education ministry for cracking down on government employees - both citizens and expatriates whose education certificates are fake. The ministry has been examining university certificates of government employees and referred many of them to the public prosecution after concluding their certificates are fake.
The government, chaired by Acting Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, is determined to take legal action against people with fake certificates and pursue those who facilitated the acquisition of these certificates, Deputy Premier and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh said in a statement after a Cabinet meeting.