LOCALARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 25, 2017

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Over 3,000 orders for travel banissued in last 5 months of this yr

Many lawyers say need to review travel ban

KUWAIT CITY, June 24: More than 3,000 orders for travel ban were issued in the last fi ve months of this year, and only 1,650 of them have been lifted, as per offi cial statistics of Ministry of Justice, re-ports Al-Rai daily.

There have been an increasing number of complaints from citi-zens and expatriates on whom travel ban has been imposed, especially over simple fi nancial cases that do not exceed KD 1 or even KD 0.500 in some in-stances. Some of them are gov-ernment fees which are not in-tentionally ignored, as many are not aware of them because they were not notifi ed about them or about the travel ban that was im-posed on them.

Various lawyers have urged the need to review the travel ban, espe-cially since the law, here in Kuwait, does not differentiate between a travel ban over thousands of dinars and that over a few dinars.

They suggested the travel ban should not be imposed on those with fi nancial dues less than KD 300. They insisted that the law should be reviewed particularly the aspect of notifi cation, because the ban re-

stricts freedom without even noti-fying the affected person.

Meanwhile, Minister of Justice and State Minister for National As-sembly Affairs Dr Faleh Al-Azeb announced that he has commis-sioned departments of execution of judicial ruling and charges in Ministry of Justice to prepare a draft law for preventing restriction of movement for citizens and expa-triates through the travel bans im-posed over non-payment of small fi nancial dues and simple cases.

At the same time, the minister indicated about the government’s inclination to ensure completion of transaction in settling the fi nancial dues through payment to the gov-ernment instead of the travel ban measure.

He said Ministry of Justice will initially stop imposing travel bans for fi nal rulings that demand pay-ment of less than KD 100, or any

charges directed to state which do not exceed that amount.

Dr Al-Azeb stressed that the ministry is working on measures that will end restrictions on move-ment of citizens and expatriates who fail to pay simple amounts ordered by fi nal judicial rulings or fi nes or governmental dues.

He explained that the concerned departments will work on setting up a draft mechanism that will de-termine the value of fi nes and dues that necessitate imposition of travel ban. The decision to impose travel ban on an individual will depend on the amount owed and the nature of the case.

Al-Azib affi rmed that there will be a mechanism which will guar-antee collection of public dues and execution of judiciary rulings with-out the need to restrict travel free-dom of citizens and expatriates as long as they have not committed a

crime and they are not considered to be fl ight risk.

In the spirit of achieving these planned measures, a meeting was held in the past between Min-istry of Justice and Ministry of Finance during which means for collecting financial dues owed to the state were discussed without the need to impose travel bans. One of the suggested means was linking governmental transac-tions with settling financial dues either immediately or on install-ment basis for huge amounts.

In addition, the ministry is also aspiring to take steps for enabling an individual who has given power of attorney of any type to be able to cancel it through the ministry’s website without the need to visit the concerned department, and also for issuance of marriage certifi -cates through smart cards, and the size of the civil ID card.

Plane to fl y short, medium range destination

Wataniya Airways receivesits fi rst Airbus A-320 aircraftKUWAIT CITY, June 24, (KUNA): Wa-taniya Airways, one of three national carri-ers of Kuwait, said Thursday its fi rst Airbus (A-320) arrived at Kuwait International Airport to joint its fl eet.

The move opens a new chapter of the airline’s operations on the local market af-ter a fi ve-year hiatus, said Lana Al-Rashid, director of the information and public rela-tions dept. of the company.

“This is a historic moment on Wataniya’s march; it is the fruit of a whole year of prep-arations,” she said in a press release, appre-

ciated the support offered by shareholders over the last years.

Al-Rashid also thanked leaders of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), notably DGCA President Sheikh Salman Hamoud Al Sabah, Director Gen-eral Eng Yousef Suleiman Al-Fouzan and Deputy Director General Emad Al-Jalawi for facilitating the resumption of the air-line’s operation.

The new aircraft will fl y to short and me-dium range destinations in the coming few days, she added.

KUNA photo

Wataniya Airway’s A-320 Airbus in fi ght

Desalination plant to produce 60m gallonsKUWAIT CITY, June 24: Un-dersecretary of Ministry of Electricity and Water Eng. Mohammed Boushahri has af-fi rmed that the project of the West Doha Water Desalination Plant using Reverse Osmosis will produce 60 million impe-

rial gallons in its fi rst phase, indicating that it is one of the important projects aimed at enhancing the capacity of the water network, reports Al-Rai daily.

During a visit to the project site, he said the activities of the

project so far are ongoing in line with the contractual project schedule.

Boushahri praised the workers at the project site for their efforts day and night to complete the project on time.

‘Inspectors as customers’

Second phase

Surprise inspectionsconducted on shops

First Ring Road ‘upgrade’ twenty-seven pc complete

KUWAIT CITY, June 24: Members of an inspection team from the Price Control Department of Ministry of Com-merce and Industry pretended to be customers in order to determine if any shops are taking advantage of the current festive season to increase the prices of their goods, reports Al-Rai daily.

With the advent of Eid Al-Fitr celebrations, the surprise inspections were conducted on shops that sell children’s toys in Riggae as well as barbershops.

A total of 12 citations were issued for the violation of dis-playing prices that are not the actual prices of various goods and commodities. Citations were also issued against some women spas which hiked the prices of their services in vio-lation of the prevailing rules and regulations that govern the sector.

After the raids, Head of the team Hamed Al-Dhufairi said, “Ministry of Commerce and Industry conducts regular mon-itoring of shops and prices to ensure shop owners are not manipulating the prices especially during public occasions such as Eid”.

He indicated that some barbershops increase the prices of their services, taking advantage of the fact that their custom-ers are under time pressure especially with the approach of Eid.

Al-Dhufairi affi rmed that Ministry of Commerce and In-dustry is against any unauthorized increase of prices and it will continue to issue citations against those who violate the price list set by the ministry.

He stressed the need for the public to contact the Con-sumer Affairs Department of the ministry through its hot-line No. 135 to report any price manipulations, affirming that the department will dispatch its inspection teams to determine such reports and take further legal measures after confirmation.

By Mohammad GhanimAl-Seyassah Staff

KUWAIT CITY, June 24: Assistant Undersecretary for Road Engineering at the Ministry of Public Works Engineer Ahmad Al-Hessan disclosed the second phase of the First Ring Road upgrade project is 27 per-cent complete.

Engineer Al-Hassan explained the project starting from Dasma covers Abdullah Al-Ahmad Road, Shu-waikh and Keifan. He added the project is one of the major road engineering works meant to fulfill the de-velopment plan strategy toward transforming Kuwait to an international commercial and financial hub. He said the ongoing project is important, because road network is a major factor in achieving the aforemen-tioned objective.

He affi rmed the highest authorities in the ministry led by Minister of Public Works Engineer Abdul-Rahman Al-Mutawa are fully supportive of all developmental pro-jects executed by the ministry. He stated the ministry is more committed to road construction projects, consider-ing its close link with the desired development. He added the major reason for upgrading the First Ring Road is to enhance traffi c fl ow, while three phases of the project is to ensure the road can accommodate over 2,000 vehicular movements within an hour.

❑ ❑ ❑Several workers in garment sector affi rmed the rate of

sales in most of the markets in Kuwait has fallen by 60 percent this year compared to the same period last year, reports Al-Anba daily.

Warehouse manager of a garment company Hussein Abu Kubaisah declared the sale of garments in Kuwait has fallen by no less than 55 percent over the past four years. He attributed the situation to rise in the prices of com-modities and products whereby meager resources of the middle-class no longer take care of their needs.

He added that value of Egyptian pants has also fallen and the fact that Egyptians are the second largest expatri-ate population in Kuwait and second largest expatriates that buy garments aft er Kuwaitis aff ect the market. He indicated dwindling international oil market leading to mass lay-off s is also a factor.

In his comment, marketing manager of a famous shop corroborated the fi rst respondent, saying low value of Egyptian pants aff ects the market sales dramatically. He affi rmed reduction of over 60 percent in the rate of gar-ment sales this year. He added there has been low patron-age since the beginning of the year only for the month of Ramadan when the sales improved a bit