14,600 driving licenses of expats pulled after changing profession

No compromise, leniency: Maj Gen Al-Sayegh

KUWAIT CITY, July 8: General Traffic Department has canceled 14,600 driving licenses of expatriates, and placed a ‘block’ on them, reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily added, these licenses were not renewed because the owners of these licenses were not eligible to renew these licenses after they changed their profession based on what they had acquired the driving licenses.

The GTD sources added a total of 1.575 million driving licenses have been issued and of these 850,000 licenses have been issued for expatriates, 30,000 for non-Kuwaitis, and 25,000 for GCC citizens, while the total number of vehicles registered at the GTD is about 2.3 million.

The sources told the daily the Assistant Undersecretary for Traffic Sector at the Ministry of Interior Major General Jamal Al-Sayegh, has given instructions to senior traffic officers not to be lenient when issuing driving licenses, and to ensure that everyone adheres to the decisions that makes the person eligible to hold a driving license after fulfilling all conditions.

For example, he said resident students who enroll in university for higher education are eligible for acquiring the driving licenses, but unfortunately, after completing his/her studies, the student does not return the license that was granted for this purpose and therefore the GTD has no option but to place a block, the license then is considered void.

Whoever is caught with a driving license that was granted for a specific purpose and is still using it will be deported for violating the laws of the country.

Duty force formed: The National Guard, based on the decisions issued by the Council of Ministers regarding the readiness of the Ministry of Interior to open all ports 24/7, announced the formation of a duty force to support the ministries of Health and Interior at the Salmi and Nuwaiseeb border ports, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

In a press statement, the National Guard indicated the force includes medical emergency teams to support the Ministry of Health to provide health services to port-goers and dealing with emergency situations.

The statement stated the guidance document of the National Guard whose slogan is ‘Protection and Support’ focuses on expanding the tasks of the National Guard forces.