hakem al-mutairi founded the extremist religious umma party, which is banned by law. al-mutairi was sentenced to prison and is currently outside kuwait. a controversial and widely circulated interview between al-mutairi and the tyrant muammar gaddafi gained attention on social media. one of the former leaders of this party, known for delivering fiery speeches against various groups, is now the dean of a prominent college at kuwait university. does this align with the government’s efforts to ban such affiliations and partisanship?
■ more than three million expatriates live in kuwait, most of whom are without their families due to local laws that prevent them from bringing their families for administrative reasons. as a result, many of these individuals seize the first opportunity to travel and reunite with their families. also, tens of thousands of kuwaiti citizens take advantage of the opportunity to travel abroad whenever they can, for well-known reasons.
■ the government often delays the timing of official holidays, particularly those associated with religious holidays, due to their dependence on moon sightings . however, several gulf countries have long moved away from this practice and now specify the dates of all religious holidays for the entire year, ensuring they remain consistent. this allows both residents and citizens to plan their travel in advance, avoiding last-minute confusion. unfortunately, this was not the case with the upcoming holiday, as the date was announced late, leaving many to wait until the final day to find out when the holiday would start and end!
we hope the government will urge the civil service commission (csc) to be more flexible in setting holiday dates for the benefit of travelers. we would like to see the same approach adopted by the uae, for example, in determining holidays in advance, allowing everyone to plan their travel with ease and avoid last-minute changes to their schedules within the final three or four hours. this would help prevent confusion, inconvenience, and wasted time.
what we seek is simple common sense in determining the next eid holiday, something we did not witness in the process of setting the date for the upcoming eid al-fitr.
■ the world knows kuwait as a small, peaceful, and wealthy state, renowned for its pioneering rule of law, its enlightened constitution, its assistance to both near and far countries, its distinguished artists, and its scientific publications and cultural magazines, many of which have unfortunately ceased publication.
the official magazine issued by the ministry of information suffers from weakness, repetition, lack of structure, and often superficial content.
we are unsure of the reasons behind this alarming decline in our cultural and artistic publications, and no one has provided us with an explanation, perhaps because no one knows the real cause.
if the issue is financial, it can easily be managed both officially and publicly. if the problem lies with the writers, contributors, employees, professionals, and art departments, then it becomes a different matter, one that requires the rebuilding of specialized cadres. who will tell us the truth about this issue?
■ huge construction projects, costing hundreds of millions of dinars, suffer from the bureaucracy of several government agencies, particularly the kuwait municipality and the kuwait fire force. one successful project became the biggest victim of this bureaucracy until intervention occurred, and officials were urged to redouble their efforts and avoid obstructing this iconic project with illegal and illogical excuses.
today, the “hessa al-mubarak” project, the largest of its kind by any standard, faces the same arbitrary treatment. this situation requires the intervention of the distinguished minister abdullatif al-mishari to resolve the issue and facilitate the project’s progress, within the confines of applicable laws, without any leniency concerning violations, if any.
■ we thank the government for its decisive action and decision to abolish exceptional pensions once and for all, restoring them to their logical and just limits.
we also thank the minister of interior for prohibiting traffic vehicles from using their flashers while on the road, and limiting their use to pursuits or stopping to manage accidents.
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a group has raised $10 million to build a children’s hospital in gaza, claiming to have approval from both the kuwaiti and palestinian authorities. this claim is inaccurate. we hope the minister of social affairs will verify this information and temporarily withhold the funds until the situation is clearer, especially given that it is currently impossible to discuss the establishment of any major project in gaza at this time.