Rising Construction Costs Delay Al-Zour Oil Refinery
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SUBSCRIPTION TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2015 RAMADAN 6, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Asian driver Palestinians and Aussies upset crashes into Israel may have Brazil; France Emsak: 03:04 electronics committed war shine as Canada Fajer: 03:14 Shrooq 04:49 showroom crimes in Gaza scrape through Dohr: 11:50 Asr: 15:24 Maghreb: 18:51 2 7 20 Eshaa: 20:23 Rising construction costs Min 32º Max 44º delay Al-Zour oil refinery High Tide 04:35 & 15:40 Low Tide Cost of facility previously pegged at KD4 billion 10:40 & 22:50 40 PAGES NO: 16560 150 FILS LONDON: The start-up of Kuwait’s Al-Zour crude oil refin- Ramadan Kareem ery is expected to be delayed after rising construction costs forced state refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC) to Fasting experience seek more money to finance the plant, a KNPC spokesman said yesterday. Officials had previously said start-up would By Teresa Lesher occur by late 2018 or early 2019 and pegged the cost of the facility at 4 billion dinars ($13.3 billion). amadan is like spring cleaning: an annual ritual But KNPC spokesman told Reuters by telephone: “We that results in the cleansing of the body, the are seeking additional funds to start awarding (con- Rairing out of the mind, and the beautification tracts). We are already two months behind and we don’t of the soul. It provides the opportunity for reorgani- know when we will get the funds.” KNPC said in a state- zation and the fine tuning of the soul that is needed ment that a request for the new government money periodically to remind us of our roles and responsi- would be submitted to the Supreme Petroleum Council, bilities and to commit to a fresh start in our faith. In a a top oil policy body. purely physical sense, fasting provides an opportuni- The company did not say when the request might be ty to rid the body of an array of unhealthy habits. approved or how much extra money KNPC needed, but Caffeine, sugar and nicotine cannot be consumed a Kuwaiti daily quoted the company’s chief executive throughout the day as is the habit of many people. Mohammed Ghazi Al-Mutairi as saying the amount was When fasting ends at sunset, the body craves plenty estimated at KD800 million. The 615,000 barrel per day of liquids and a nutritious, balanced meal. By the oil refinery, originally planned more than a decade ago, end of Ramadan, one can accomplish a healthy would be the biggest in the Middle East, but the project weight loss and improved eating habits. Compared has been repeatedly delayed by bureaucratic and politi- to the spiritual benefits of Ramadan, however, this is cal issues, including tensions between Kuwait’s parlia- insignificant. First and foremost, fasting is an act of ment and the cabinet. obedience to the Lord’s command to do so. At the KNPC said it had asked companies which had bid for least, one can fast as an act of submission. work on the project to extend the validity dates of their This is the first step towards piety and Prophet bids until it obtained the new funds. Bids for one of the Muhammad (PBUH) said that “Whoever fasts in the contracts, related to the tank farm, did not meet specifica- month of Ramadan with full consciousness of his tions so the company is inviting fresh bids and set July 7 as faith and a sense of accountability, will have all his KUWAIT: Photo shows a mosque in the middle of a roundabout in Murgab Kuwait City. Muslims around the the date for them to be submitted. The refinery will make previous sins forgiven.” world are celebrating Ramadan during which followers are required to abstain from food, drink and sex diesel, kerosene and naphtha for export and low-sulphur Continued on Page 13 from dawn to dusk. — Photo by Joseph Shagra fuel oil for domestic power stations.— Reuters PAGE PAGE Ex-death row inmate Fake degree scam set to return home rocks Kuwait, GCC National Assembly to pass domestic helper laws today Islamist MP questions visit of Iraqi cleric By B Izzak teed under existing regulations. The Assembly is also expected to pass a related KUWAIT: The National Assembly is scheduled today law to set up shareholding companies to be responsi- to have the second and final votes on a number of ble for the recruitment of domestic helpers with the key legislation dealing with the rights of domestic aim to reduce the costs and regulate the process. helpers besides debating budgets. MPs are highly Lawmakers will likely approve a law to establish the expected to pass the first Kuwaiti legislation ever to national human rights commission, also the first gov- regulate the affairs of maids, cooks, private drivers ernment-sponsored human rights body in the coun- and alike after they have been governed by a ministe- try. Head of the Priorities Committee MP Youssef Al- rial decision. The law provides a number of important Zalzalah said a request to debate statements by the rights to domestic helpers including an eight-hour oil minister will not be taken up today but will be working day, a weekly rest, an annual leave and end delayed for tomorrow. of service indemnity, all of which were never guaran- Continued on Page 13 Pakistan heatstroke death toll nears 200 KARACHI: Nearly 200 people have died in a heat wave in southern Pakistan, officials said yesterday, as the gov- ernment called in the army to help tackle widespread heatstroke in the worst-hit city Karachi. The death toll in Karachi, the country’s largest city, where tempera- tures hit 45 degrees Celsius (111 Fahrenheit) at the weekend, is at least 180 and a further 11 deaths were reported in southern parts of central Punjab province. The deaths come a month after neighboring India suffered the second deadliest heat wave in its history, with more than 2,000 deaths. Continued on Page 13 Agility unit to invest $225 million in UAE DUBAI: Agility said yesterday a unit of the Kuwaiti logistics firm had agreed with a real estate subsidiary of National Real Estate Company to invest $225 mil- lion in a shopping mall in Abu Dhabi. The mall will be a partnership project in which investment from United Projects Company for Aviation Services (UPAC) may reach $225 million in the coming three years, it said in a statement to the Dubai bourse. The financial impact of the investment on the company will be announced during phases of the project, Agility said. No details of the project were given. UPAC manages commercial space in Kuwait and real ISLAMABAD: Pakistani youths cool themselves off at estate in Kuwait International Airport, according to a river during a heat wave on the outskirts of Agility’s website. — Reuters Islamabad yesterday. — AFP LOCAL TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2015 Private universities struggle to absorb students on scholarships By A Saleh students’ safety even during students’ “Assaulting doctors is becoming a fights, the comprehensive court phenomena spreading in various hos- KUWAIT: The Private Universities recently ordered the Ministry of pitals, thus affecting doctors’ perform- Council (PUC) stressed that private Education and a student’s parent to ance, and subsequently the quality of universities in Kuwait were almost at jointly compensate the parent of services they provide,” Qana’e said. full capacity now and that unless new another student with KD 50,000 for universities were opened, they would the injuries the kid sustained in a fight New Egyptian ambassador be unable to increase the number of in school. The injured student’s lawyer Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al- scholarships next year. The council Hisham Abdulaziz said that his client Sisi recently approved appointing the added that three more universities; sustained eye injury that affected the foreign minister’s deputy assistant for the Canadian Algonquin College, the vision in his left eye. The injury hap- European affairs Yasser Atef as the Aviation Technology College and pened when the other boy hit him new Egyptian ambassador to Kuwait, Kuwait Technology College, are set to with a pen, Abdulaziz said. replacing the current envoy Abdul open by the beginning of the next Kareem Suleiman. This comes within semester in September. The Ministry Doctors’ protection several changes in many Egyptian of Higher Education had announced Kuwait Medical Association (KMA)’s embassies and consulates around the Sunday that 3,600 students were Secretary General Dr Mohammed Al- world including Washington, accepted in the internal universities’ Qena’e said that KMA had recently Germany, London, Milan, Tel Aviv, scholarship program. proposed an amendment to the med- Cuba, Chicago, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, ical profession practice law to include Bahrain, the Vatican, the Czech, Student compensated a three-year prison penalty and/or a Ethiopia, Cyprus, Norway, Slovenia, In an unprecedented court ruling KD 5,000 fine for those who assault Islamabad, Los Angles, Brazil, Croatia KUWAIT: Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan received Mexico’s Ambassador to Kuwait Miguel that asserts teachers’ responsibility for doctors or any medical staff member. and Oman. Angel Isidro yesterday, and discussed with him matters of mutual concern. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat KUWAIT VOICES Ramadan soap operas’ review Working hard By Nawara Fattahova what he did. He leaves and threatens her of asks her to help him die. His wife comes goes back. The Kuwaiti students in for his family making her pay for it. over and promises not to leave him. Germany have a meeting for the new stu- KUWAIT: Kuwait Times is publishing a daily Hadeel takes her brother Fahd to get Ali Farouq’s wife complains of her husband dents, and Noora narrates her experiences.