‘Imposing taxes on the cards’

‘Dwindling oil prices raising queries’

“THE citizen feels surprised by some statements which are issued by some officials about the deficit, its seriousness and problems,” columnist Mishref Eqab wrote for Al-Shahed daily.

“But it seems such statements are mostly issued only during emergency crises, as such we wonder where the talk about the deficit was when the price of each barrel of oil was $120 with no infrastructure and blanket development?

“Does the deficit come from the first chapter, which is salaries, the urgent question, is the deficit from the size of salaries only? Where are the huge budgets, where are the laws that talk about diversifying sources of national income? For so many years, relying only on oil is not reasonable, in contrast to a previous report by the World Bank that Kuwait ranked fifth as the richest country in the world.

“However, upon the appearance of any crisis and the drop in the prices of oil, some officials issue statements about the financial deficit and its danger and problem and these statements concentrate only on the first chapter of the State Budget and the necessity of stopping the subsidy given to the citizens.

“Such being the case, the question from where we shall cover the public budget, seems to be reasonable, particularly the price of the barrel of oil is expected to continue its downward trend during the coming years due to the stagnation and weakness of the global economy which can be attributed to spread of corona virus pandemic which means the continuation of huge, successive and growing financial deficits in the coming budgets.

“All this confirms the bankruptcy and zeroing of all the country’s financial funds and the end of the era of financial surpluses during the next ten years, and the reduction of the salaries of all state employees and all workers in affiliated institutions and bodies particularly those drawing higher salaries, and abolishing all kinds of support for goods and services provided by the state.

“A while ago the Central Bank of Kuwait issued a statement indicating the financial situation is solid, wonderful and reassuring.

“In the meantime, the Ministry of Finance, had announced that the State is currently studying the possibility of finding out other sources to support the national income by imposing fees on the state rendered services rendered to both the citizens and expatriates in view of the country’s need for more sources of income to support the state budget.

“Certainly the two statements are contradictory because imposing taxes on citizens and residents, and in the financial sense, it is considered a tax in exchange for services.

“The gasoline prices have been raised, and free gasoline coupons have not been distributed to citizens. Raising gasoline prices is the start of applying the tax and tariff.

“In this connection, we elucidate that defining the tax is a financial amount charged by a country on people and institutions to spend on the infrastructure and on the various sectors of education, health and all services, and all countries of the world apply the tax, such as America and Europe.”

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Mishref Eqab

“We have withdrawn a lot from the General Reserve Fund and what remains seem to be too little and will not be enough to cover the financial deficit on this year,” columnist Suhail Abu Qurais wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“In this context, during the past years, a lot of money was withdrawn from the General Reserve Fund to cover the deficits of the consecutive budgets -- the deficits that was caused by the unjustifiable withdrawal that was made by the government in addition to the National Assembly proposals.

“In other words, the National Assembly in view of its commitment to its habit propounded many popular proposals to win votes during the parliamentary elections and these proposals cost the state millions of dinars because of the pressure put by the MPs and the government succumbed to the proposals.

“Take for example, the pressure that was put to revise the pay scale of some ministries and institutions, and the relevant amendment resulted in increasing the salaries of employees of the ministries and institutions in addition to other related privileges.

“Apart from the above, we say the pensioners covered by the Health Insurance Law; this law was also amended although all the retirees in Kuwait are entitled free medical treatment.

“It is needless to say all of the above is a simple example embodying the various types of spending, as such, we hope both the National Assembly and the government, will take stock of what has been withdrawn from the General Reserve Fund over the last five years and clarify what was disbursed to meet the requirements of the relevant proposals and others.”

“Coronavirus infection figures in Kuwait are still witnessing a significant increase, so much that it reached 1,355 cases according to the latest announcements of the Ministry of Health on Tuesday,” Khalid Al-Erafah wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“The government, after the increasing number of casualties, indicated an option that could be approved, which is the comprehensive curfew on all areas of Kuwait. It mandated in this regard a number of specialized teams and the concerned authorities to prepare and complete all the requirements necessary to put the executive plans accompanying this ban to achieve the desired goal thereof and avoid any possible obstacles that may accompany the implementation which awaits approval of the health authorities in the country.

“We all know that implementation of the comprehensive ban or any action taken by the health authorities is for the benefit of citizens and expatriates, and in order to protect the health and safety of everyone.

“What is required of the Council of Ministers, after reviewing the special plans established regarding implementation of the comprehensive ban, is to review the mechanism and procedures to be followed during the coming period before applying it in a press conference clarifying all matters related to this matter. At the forefront must come a mechanism for the shopping of families in cooperative societies and parallel markets in the event of a comprehensive ban to prevent panic that has returned due to the circulation of information from here and there.

“For example, allowing heads of households to shop in the vicinity of their region, according to a mechanism established by the societies, by taking prior appointment and a specific time for a number of shareholders simultaneously. This is in addition to the case of parallel markets for non-shareholders with the opening of markets throughout the day to serve consumers with their commitment to implementing the health instructions.

“Likewise, the current delivery service used in the partial ban in cooperative societies by a group of volunteers must be expanded in the event of applying the total ban, because the current number of delivery requests will not be able to meet the needs of the people who prefer this service. We are heading towards the holy month of Ramadan and the demand is frequent on the consumption of foodstuffs, therefore, the societies should increase the supply of foodstuffs accompanying this holy month through its website and work to find other solutions that serve the people and facilitate them to meet their needs easily and stress-free by following health instructions.

“The Kuwait Municipality must also take into account exclusion of some activities and their operation during the ban period, whether partial or total, due to the citizens’ need for them. It includes electrical and health tools, while providing a number of technicians to carry out these activities related to family supplies in cooperative societies to serve the people according to a specific mechanism.

“Also, Kuwait Flour Mills and Bakeries Company that has proven successful in this crisis through its distinguished cadres in meeting the market need of all types of bakeries must support the current bakery branches, with additional points of sale in the event of the application of a total ban installed inside the regions to relieve the main centers, through mobile vans or by delivery via delivery companies or volunteers. God save everyone from all harm.”

“Throughout history, the world has been on a date with many epidemics that have plagued humanity, causing large numbers of casualties,” Mohammad Al-Fawzan wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“In addition to the typhus that rendered Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign against Russia in 1812 a failure, the black plague that killed nearly a third of Europe’s population in the fourteenth century and the Spanish flu that killed nearly 50 million people in the twentieth century, the world over the past years has suffered from typhoid fever. Yearly, this disease kills tens of thousands of people, especially in poor countries.

“In the midst of these events during the past century, history recorded a unique incident associated with typhoid fever, the victim of which was an Irish woman known as Mary Mallon, who was dubbed “Typhoid Mary” by journalists.

“In 1906, Mary Mallon worked as a chef for one of the wealthy families residing in the town of Uster Bay near New York. During this period, the disease surfaced in the city, so everybody was seeking assistance from a doctor called George Super to know causes of the disease. He conducted a series of researches and suspected Mary for relying on peaches she was preparing with uncooked ingredients. Doctor Super also noticed the spread of typhoid in all houses where Mary Mallon worked, and in return, the latter did not show any symptoms of the disease.

“One year later, Dr George Super met Mary Mallon in New York City, and with the emergence of cases of typhoid fever there, he immediately ordered laboratory testing on Mary and several analyzes showed that she was an asymptomatic vector for typhoid fever, as the latter carried in her body the bacteria that causes the disease without any effect on her health.

“Mary was sent to quarantine for about three years on a small island. Later, she filed a lawsuit accusing New York City officials of forcing her to stay in quarantine for a long time. She won the case but she was allowed to leave only after signing a pledge to avoid cooking as a profession and washing her hands continuously.

“Mary Mallon did not keep to her promise and returned again to cooking profession disguised as Mary Brown. She was arrested five years later while working as a chef for a maternity in Manhattan after recording many cases of typhoid fever and three deaths in the region.

“After identifying her true identity, Mary Mallon was sent back to quarantine on the island where she stayed 23 more years until her death in 1938 after suffering a stroke”

“The exaggerated negative reaction towards the paper of the business and trade sector on creating a governmental program for economic recovery has no justification, except the prevailing free time due to the extended holiday in the country or the failure of some to absorb the negative conditions that the Kuwaiti economy will suffer as a result of the epidemic,” columnist Abdulmohsen Jouma’a wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“Yes, there are comments on the Kuwaiti private sector, such as its social responsibilities, non-payment of taxes to the State and lack of commitment to employ Kuwaitis. Nevertheless, it does not mean letting the sector collapse and go bankrupt. We are adding insult to injury by abandoning the sector at this sensitive time, which the national labor force works for.

“What is required is to study the proposals to support the private sector carefully and satisfy the important ones without exaggeration, especially those related to the sectors of foodstuffs, logistics supplies, education, local media affairs, real estate and banking that provide shelter and financing services to citizens.

“On the other hand, justice is also required by studying citizens’ proposals to ease their burdens, especially since a large number of retirees and citizens who do not only live on monthly salary as they have different commercial and crafts activities that support the income of their families. All these activities have stopped, thus, the need to discuss matters and proposals related to funds for the insolvent and the family. There is the possibility of dissolving them, being satisfied with what was paid by citizens and examining the fate of real estate loans with the credit bank, which has been in existence for more than two decades.

“Oil is the only source of income for Kuwait in light of the continuous and successive failures of our government to diversify sources of income, either due to the lack of planning and visions or the fear of taking firm decisions to restructure the economic policies of the country,” columnist Zayed Al-Zaid wrote for Annahar daily.

“We are not asking for the impossible from the government, because we understand that we are technically backward, as well as our diminishing size in front of the civilizational and political heritage of the industrialized world in Europe and America, and the rising powers in China and East Asia in general.

“We are also aware of the wide gap between us and them. For example, our inability to compete with Germany in the car industry, or Japan in manufacturing computers. Nevertheless, we have a precious jewel that the world does not have – oil, which enables us to develop a huge industry for petrochemicals. This made us one of the largest industrial countries in this field and then we get rid of the stupid and naive sale of crude oil that the major industrial countries recycle to us in the form of expensive goods!”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb