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SUBSCRIPTION SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 2014 JAMADA ALAWWAL 1, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Turkey passes Sisi stays King Momo FIFA okays law to shut as defence kicks off wearing of schools run by minister in riotous Rio veils, turbans Erdogan7 rival new13 govt carnival40 during18 matches Putin moves to send Max 23º Min 12º High Tide troops into Ukraine 00:01 & 12:59 Low Tide 06:53 & 19:01 40 PAGES NO: 16092 150 FILS Pro-Russian militia seizes restive Crimea MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin won sula’s airports. The ex-Soviet country’s bloodiest crisis since In my view the green light from parliament yesterday to Putin’s shock decision to seek the upper its 1991 independence erupted in November, send troops into Ukraine after a bloody three- house of parliament’s authorization to use force when Yanukovych rejected an historic deal that Lack of legislation fuels month uprising that swept new pro-EU leaders in the ex-Soviet country of 46 million came less would have opened Ukraine’s door to eventual to power but sparked unrest in the pro-Kremlin than a day after US President Barack Obama EU membership in favour of tighter ties with old informal outdoor markets Crimean peninsula. The stark escalation to what warned that any such action would carry “costs” master Moscow. Yesterday, the Kremlin said threatens to blow up into the worst crisis in rela- for Moscow. Putin had remained silent since Putin had asked the upper house to authorize tions between Moscow and the West since the Ukraine’s parliament on Feb 22 ousted pro- force “in connection with the extraordinary situa- By Dr M Ziad Al Alyan Cold War came as Kalashnikov-wielding militia Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych - who has tion in Ukraine and the threat to the lives of hoisted the Russia flag over Crimean govern- since fled to Russia - after a week of carnage in Russian citizens. ment buildings and seized control of the penin- Kiev that claimed nearly 100 lives. Continued on Page 13 sudden boom in farmers’ markets the Ministry of Commerce? has been noticed recently in Kuwait. You finally get your rent receipt and the AIt has become almost trendy to par- bank statement. The next step is to head to ticipate by having your own booth and dis- the ministry and hope whoever is in charge playing your culinary skills, artwork or your is actually working on that day. There are dental clinic! I visited Qout Market yester- many intermediate steps in the process that day, the latest in a string of outdoor markets are all designed to discourage you from and bazaars. Qout has grown in size and continuing with your business endeavor. number of participating stands. There were Once you successfully maneuver all the hur- many home businesses along with many dles, the time comes to apply for employee established, commercial enterprises display- permits. This is where the fun starts! ing their goods for sale. The environment I speak from experience when I give the reminded me of the Saturday market in following example. One might have a com- Church Street and the Portobello Road mar- pany that delivers food products. You might ket in London. have 10 vans so you will automatically need Food and beverages were obviously the 10 drivers, at least one manager and one largest section in the market. A wide range accountant. I will make no reference to any of organic, homegrown produce and spe- other jobs or staff. The Ministry of Social cial ‘Mama’s’ recipes were on display. One of Affairs and Labor will probably give you six the main attractions was the launch of permits! One might think I am exaggerating, Uncle Fatayer, a local concept - wood however, many business owners will know cooked fatayer with zaatar or parmesan exactly what I am talking about. cheese was the order of the day. The ingre- The reason for this chaos is simple - the dients were mainly locally produced and ministry, like many other ministries, they used brown bread to give you that employs the least educated individuals. extra benefit. For a short period, the boys That is the employment policy currently running the show had to stop taking orders used by all ministries in Kuwait. I am a rela- to keep up with demand. There were many tively educated man and I will always apolo- other creative homegrown entrepreneurial gize if proven wrong, so I invite any of our endeavors. beloved readers to prove me wrong. But the question remains - why the sud- I apologize for drifting from the original den surge? Actually, home businesses are topic however. It is a clear explanation of not a new thing in Kuwait. Everybody why so many potential business ideas never knows there are thousands of women who materialize, and why almost 90 percent of run kitchens from their homes and deliver Kuwaitis work in government jobs. The gov- on request. You only have to search on ernment talks about encouraging the pri- Facebook and Instagram to find just how vate sector but does absolutely nothing many of these home businesses are out about making it easy for anyone to start KHARKIV, Ukraine: Pro-Russian activists clash with pro-Western Maidan supporters as they storm the regional government building there. A few of them have moved to their own business. yesterday. — AFP become official, licensed establishments. In fact what the government has done This is the key word - ‘official’. very successfully is encourage a new type of There is no law to govern these home corruption in both the ministries of com- businesses. Worldwide, small to medium merce and social affairs. It takes an average Whales beached on Kuwait coast enterprises contribute greatly to the econo- of four to six months - if you are lucky - to my of a country. This sector is extremely have a fully operational company in Kuwait KUWAIT: A blue whale was found beached at Failaka neglected in Kuwait. We talked to many of with all the appropriate paperwork and per- Island, while reports on social media said two more the participants at the market who mits. It takes 24 hours to do the same in smaller beached whales had been found in Abul expressed their disgust at their inability to Dubai. A very high ranking government offi- Hasania and Julaia on the mainland coast. The whale in start their businesses because of the count- cial once responded to the above statement Failaka was between 15 to 20 m long, while the other less obstacles that exist. by saying “then go live in Dubai”. This was two were between one and one-and-a-half meters in To start the most simple of businesses, his solution to some of the major problems length. Blue whales are the largest mammals on earth one needs an office to be rented - regard- that we face here in Kuwait. and can exceed 30 m in size. less of whether or not you actually need This is a small article addressing only one The Kuwait Environment Protection Society (KEPS) one. Many businesses are Internet based. of the problems we face here. There are so meanwhile urged authorities to utilize the blue whale Some are actually literally a one-man show. many others. I am afraid the only logical as an educational tool for students and the public alike, The result is people renting locations that explanation is that the people running the a statement by the society said yesterday. KEPS director are fictional; there is even a term called “fic- country don’t really care about it that much. Wijdan Al-Eqab said in a press statement that the skele- tional rental” where one pays for an office The sad reality is that the only thing that the tal structure of the dead whale should be preserved and only to obtain the right documents needed governments seem to do well is the restruc- to present to the Ministry of Commerce. turing of public holidays in order to maxi- readied for display at any of the museums in the coun- This practice has led to an enormous mize the number of days off work that we try, preferably the Science Museum. amount of corruption on both sides of the can all get. Allow me to look at the last holi- Eqab added blue whales roam many areas of the coin. day. Two days are celebrated -National Day world including the Indian Ocean, from where the one Another major issue is that certain and Liberation Day. The result is seven offi- beached on Failaka Island most probably came from. licenses require a significant amount of cial days off and in Kuwait that normally She suggested that the whale had likely lost its way and money to be deposited in a bank account. means most people end up taking two days was carried by swift currents into the Arabian Gulf. But KUWAIT: A dead blue whale is seen after it beached on Failaka Island. — KUNA its cause of death has not been determined yet, she This amount is purely arbitrary. Who decid- on each side of the holiday in an attempt to (More pics on Page 2) ed that KD 150,000 is the minimum amount make it a 10-day holiday. Why do they do said. — KUNA required for certain licenses? Who is respon- that? Because they get paid anyway, as sible for the implementation and execution most of them work in government jobs. Google loses bid to of the business plan? The project owner or No wonder nothing ever gets done.

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