SHAABAN 11, 1440 AH TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2019 28 Pages Max 36º Min 18º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 17808 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Cabinet discusses privatization Jet extends cancellations after Bouteflika mosque seen as Battle-tested Tiger back 3 of North Shuaiba power station 13 lenders fail to release funds 24 monument to megalomania 28 on top with Masters title Devastating inferno ravages Paris Notre-Dame Cathedral Spire, roof of centuries-old landmark collapse • Macron tweets ‘emotion of a whole nation’ PARIS: A colossal fire swept through the famed Notre- round the cathedral as yellow flames still licked the top of Dame Cathedral in central Paris yesterday, causing its spire the building. There was no immediate indication of any to collapse, quickly followed by the entire roof, and raising casualties in the blaze. fears over the future of the nearly millennium-old building “The Paris fire service is trying to control the flames,” and its precious artworks. The fire, which began in the ear- Hidalgo wrote on Twitter, asking residents to respect the ly evening, sent flames and huge clouds of grey smoke bil- security cordon thrown up around the site. A spokesper- lowing into the Paris sky as stunned Parisians and tourists son for the cathedral said the fire, which comes as French watched on in sheer horror. Catholics prepare to celebrate Easter, broke out at around The cause of the blaze was not immediately confirmed 1650 GMT. Fire trucks could be seen speeding through but the cathedral had been undergoing intense restoration Paris towards the scene on the Ile de la Cite - an island in work to help the 850-year-old gothic masterpiece better the Seine at the heart of Paris. The Paris police department deal with the tests of time. The flames and smoke plumed in a tweet called on residents to avoid the area and to from the spire and roof of the cathedral, visited by millions “make way for rescue vehicles”. of people a year. Deputy Paris mayor Emmanuel Gregoire US President Donald Trump in a tweet said: “So horrible told BFM TV the spire “collapsed inwards” and that to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. workers were scrambling “to save all the artworks that Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. can be saved”. Must act quickly!” Hundreds of people gathered on the A spokesman for the cathedral told AFP that the wood- bridges of Paris downriver to witness the scene, some film- en structure supporting the roof was being gutted by the ing the images with their smartphones, an AFP reporter blaze. “Everything is burning,” the spokesman for Notre said. “Basically the whole rooftop is gone. I see no hope for Dame, Andre Finot, told AFP. The fire service said the blaze the building,” said witness Jacek Poltorak, watching the fire could be “potentially linked” to ongoing renovations. from a fifth-floor balcony two blocks from the southern President Emmanuel Macron cancelled a major tele- facade of the cathedral, one of France’s most visited places. vised policy speech he was due to give yesterday evening The cathedral had been undergoing intense restora- over the “terrible fire ravaging Notre-Dame”. He was to tion work which last week saw statues lifted from the top head to the scene in person, the Elysee announced. In a of the cathedral. Built between the years 1163 and 1345, tweet he expressed the “emotion of a whole nation” on Notre-Dame is one of the most popular tourist sites in seeing Notre-Dame ablaze. “Like all my compatriots I am Paris, drawing around 13 million people every year. The sad to see a part of us burn this evening” he said, express- cathedral also features in Victor Hugo’s classic novel ing solidarity with “all Catholics and all French people.” “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”. The spire, like the rest German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Notre-Dame of the gothic edifice, had been undergoing the 11-mil- cathedral a “symbol of European culture” as the blaze lion-euro ($12.4-million) overhaul financed by the French PARIS: This combination of photographs shows the Notre-Dame Cathedral (left) on June 26, 2018, and (right) the raged. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo in a tweet described it as state to repair damage inflicted by time, pollution and steeple of the landmark cathedral collapsing as it is engulfed in flames yesterday. — AFP a “terrible fire”. Vast clouds of grey-white smoke billowed the weather. — Agencies The lawmaker said although the com- MP warns govt mittee adopted the 30-day annual leave, it also insisted that “rest days”, which Amiri Diwan takes include Fridays and Saturdays for com- over labor law panies that adopt a two-day weekend and public holidays, will not be counted over Entertainment By B Izzak among the annual leave. Shaheen said the amendments to the labor law were City project: Report KUWAIT: Rapporteur of the National approved in the first reading unanimous- Assembly’s health and labor committee ly without any objections by the govern- KUWAIT: The Amiri Diwan has taken over the MP Osama Al-Shaheen yesterday ment or MPs, and moves against the project to renovate the Entertainment City which warned the government of a serious amendments began later. has been closed since July 2016, a local daily report- political confrontation including grillings He said that the other amendment ed yesterday. Quoting a letter it says was sent from over the controversial amendments to calls for paying Kuwaitis in the private the Cabinet to Kuwait Municipality, Al-Qabas said the labor law in the private sector. sector full end of service indemnity that the Diwan will take over responsibility of com- Shaheen said the committee received a without any deduction towards social pleting and following up the project from the letter from Minister of State for security, and this amendment applies Touristic Enterprises Company, which has been crit- Economic Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel say- with retroactive effect from 2010 when icized for failing to push the project forward. ing the government totally rejects the the new labor law was issued. He said TEC has also faced accusations of mismanage- amendments to the labor law, even lawmakers are insisting on the retroac- ment and wasting large amounts of funds on studies though the committee agreed to main- tive effect of this amendment as a way of to develop the theme park that never came to tain annual leave at the original 30 days paying full rights to Kuwaiti employees. KUWAIT: A schoolgirl speaks during the annual ‘Student Parliament’ session at the fruition, according to a State Audit Bureau report instead of 35. Continued on Page 24 National Assembly yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat (See Page 3) released in December 2017. The Amiri Diwan is credited for completing a number of major projects it had taken over during the past few years, includ- “a monumental geography, made for the ing Al-Shaheed Park, the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Dakar Rally most audacious itineraries”. “We are Cultural Center and the Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem spoilt for choice. Sports, navigation, a Cultural Center. will to surpass oneself: All these aspects Later yesterday, opposition MP Mohammad Al- moving to will naturally be glorified on this territo- Mutair tweeted that if the report is confirmed to be ry made for rally-raids.” Details of the true, he will file to grill the “prime minister and his Saudi desert race will be presented at a news confer- government” because this presents a “clear proof of ence in Riyadh on April 25. This year’s the government’s mismanagement”. PARIS: The Dakar Rally will be held in rally, held entirely in Peru, was won by Saudi Arabia from 2020, organizers Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah, now a announced yesterday, offering contest- three-time champion, in a Toyota. ants an “unknown landscape and Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al- uncharted terrain”. “After 30 years of Faisal Al-Saud, chairman of the Islamic Dubai Expo to discovering the beauty of Africa and a kingdom’s General Sports Authority, said decade of adventure exploring the spec- hosting the Dakar was part of Riyadh’s give $33bn boost tacular landscape of South America, a wider economic and social plan. “The new chapter in the history of Dakar will vision and guidance of our leaders have be written as the world’s biggest rally made our dreams and ambitions limitless to UAE economy makes its Middle East debut in Saudi and have set the sports scene in the Arabia,” ASO said in a statement. kingdom on a remarkable success DUBAI: Dubai’s Expo 2020 global trade fair is expect- The Dakar has been held in South route,” he said. ed to give the United Arab Emirates an economic boost America since 2009. The gruelling multi- “Today we are thrilled to announce TEL AVIV: This photo taken yesterday at the University of Tel Aviv shows a 3D print of over $33 billion, consultants Ernst and Young said in stage rally was previously held in Africa that Rally Dakar, an event with a huge of a heart with human tissue. — AFP a study released yesterday. Next year’s mega-event but was relocated after terrorist threats global appeal is coming to the Kingdom would add 1.5 percent to UAE’s gross domestic product in Mauritania in 2008. Dakar director of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East for advances possibilities for transplants. per year over the period that started in 2013 and runs David Castera described the relocation the first time.