Kuwait Times

Published Date: October 21, 2008

KUWAIT: The Head of the national campaign for countering price hikes in Kuwait Mubarak Al-Harbi slammed the Minister of Commerce Ahmad Baqer for not containing the price hike. He said procedures implemented by him were just an information propaganda to convince people that the ministry is exercising great efforts to counter the hikes. He also criticized the smart card scheme that was introduced by the Ministry of Commerce to help Kuwaiti citizens while in reality it supports only businessmen. The shares of
each Kuwaiti citizen in the scheme is only KD 20 while the total cost allocated for the project is KD 20 million. He pointed out that commercial companies lure people to take advantage of the benefits that the card has to offer, reported Al-Watan. The fact is, he said, the companies benefit more from selling those cards as the discounts on commodities offered to buyers were not that much.

MoI stand-off escalates

KUWAIT: The stand-off between the Overseas Media Department and the Printing Department the Ministry of Information impedes work progress, an official reported. He noted that the Media department refuses to coordinate with the Printing Department. According to a previous decree issued by the Minister of Information Sheikh Sabah Al- Khalid, the Assistant Undersecretary of the Printing Department was made in charge of monitoring the Overseas Media Department. However, the Printing department is presently in
a deplorable state, in addition to it being inexperienced about dealing with matters like opening new media offices and magazines in Kuwait, reported Al-Qabas. Also, the department's attempts at seeking help from the Overseas Media Department in this regard were rebuffed.

Whistle-blowing doc dismissed

KUWAIT: Following forensic pathologist Dr. Nawal Bushehri's controversial accusations of violations by the Kuwait Criminal Evidence (KCE) directorate, which were reported by local media this March, she has been dismissed from her position. It has been seven months since Bushehri 'blew the whistle' on the alleged violations. She also accused her boss of sexually harassing her. Dr. Bushehri received her dismissal letter on October 16, but was shocked to discover that it was dated January 21st of this year,
reported Al-Rai. "How come, I've been working ever since then and received my monthly salary up till last Thursday, when I received the letter?" she asked, alleging that the main reason behind her dismissal was her exposure of the violations, which involved some senior officials and officers in the KCE. Dr Bushehri claimed that the reason behind the delay in her dismissal was that her opponents wanted her accusations to have been forgotten by the public and some interested MPs before firing her.

PAB plans NA boycott

KUWAIT: Members of the Public Action Bloc (PAB) have devised their own strategies to stop newly elected MPs Sadoun Al-Otaibi and Askar Al-Enezi from taking oaths during the ceremony scheduled to take place today. Parliamentary officials noted that PAB members intend to boycott the session arguing that the MPs' membership should be revoked until the case files are officially closed, reported Annahar. Meanwhile, MP Saadoun Al-Otaibi said that he would not pay heed to such calls.

Al-Mulaifi questions veil controversy

KUWAIT: Ahmad Al-Mulaifi, member of the parliamentary legislative committee expressed amazement at the accusations leveled against the two female ministers Nouriya Al-Sabeeh and Moudhi Al-Humoud. He questioned how non-compliance with Sharia rules can be accounted for constitutional and legal violations, reported Al-Jarida. Al-Mulaifi said that in principle, wearing the veil is a duty accorded by Allah and nobody can object to that. However the constitutional article does not allude to the Sharia rules, he
concluded.

Construction materials prices fall

KUWAIT: The construction materials market witnessed a sharp fall in prices which coincided with the oil prices plunge. Market analysts said that several reasons contributed toward the fall including low transportation costs, reported Al-Jarida. However, the slump did not affect the price of cement, which is considered a basic construction material. Its prices soared in July.