Closures Seen up for Sunday Review
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ice hockey THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT Page 15 Established in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com Page 16 soccer SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2021 / JUMADA AL THANI 25, 1442 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17607 16 PAGES 150 FILS FIFTEEN NEW CENTERS APPROVED FOR VACCINATIONS Closures seen up for Sunday review Photos by Rezk Tawfi q Several business owners on Saturday gathered at the Erada Square in front of the National Assembly building to express their objection to the recent decision of the Cabinet to close some establishments in bid to curb the spread of coronavirus. MoI threatens jail, fines for violators Opinion By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh out taking into consideration the economic aspect. He asserted that many Arab Times Staff and Agencies countries have presented four to five economic solutions, while Kuwait has yet to take such step. Kuwait needs a PM who has Moreover, MPs Thamer Al-Suwait, Badr Al-Dahoum, Khalid Al-Otaibi KUWAIT CITY, Feb 6: Several owners of spas and and Muhammad Al-Mutair submitted a bill on rescheduling the collection barbershops on Saturday gathered in front of the of payments for citizens’ loans. They suggested exempting citizens from the character of those National Assembly building to express their objec- paying loan interest and the payment period for the loan should be 12 years. tion to the recent decision of the Cabinet to close Vaccine such establishments as a way of curbing the spread Some 15 health centres across Kuwait have been given the go-ahead to who rescued their countries of coronavirus. administer COVID-19 vaccines to nationals and residents, a Health Minis- The demonstrators took this action in a bid to convey their mes- try spokesman said on Saturday. Kuwait’s five health regions have each been granted three health centres sage to the Cabinet through the Assembly. They expressed disap- each, with work at Al-Naseem and Al-Masayel centers expected to begin By Ahmed Al-Jarallah of the two authorities, because the latter pointment over the decision which, they stressed, will worsen their tomorrow, Dr. Abdallah Al-Sanad said in a press statement. Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times imposes what it wants on a weak govern- suffering; asserting that it is unacceptable to close certain business- The other centres will include: ment that is unable to confront one of its es while allowing others to continue their operations. Capital Region: KUWAIT is awaiting the formation of duties as specified by the Constitution. One of the protesters asked why the Ministry of Health approved holding Hamad Al-Humaidhi, Sheikha Al-Sdairawi, Musaed Hamad Al-Saleh the new government, while His Highness Also, the MPs do not seem to be in a the 2020 parliamentary elections that led to gatherings and violation of the hurry to unleash the wheel of legislation and Northwest Sulaibikhat. the Prime Minister is searching for com- rule on social distancing, yet the Cabinet decided to close some establish- Hawalli Region: petent personalities to assume the minis- and oversight. It seems they are comfort- ments even if they adhered to the health regulations. able with this vacuum that gives them a Abdulrahman Al-Zaid, Al-Siddiq and Salwa Specialist. terial portfolios. Many of those who were A woman managing a beauty salon said she has six workers and the Farwaniya Region: contacted turned down the offer, which greater opportunity to market themselves, in light of a government that has never closure of the salon means she has no option but to fire them. She asked Mutab Obaid Al-Shallahi, Al-Ardiya Al-Shamali and Khaitan Al-Janoubi. means the wait will be prolonged. the Cabinet to consider the impact of such a decision on the whole society. Al-Ahmadi Region: On one hand the country will remain in known how to face crises head on. That is why the desires that the MPs de- A spa owner stressed that he is ready to shutdown, but on one condi- Al-Masayel, Sabah Al-Ahmad Health Center E and East Al-Ahmadi. a constitutional vacuum, and on the other, tion - the Cabinet should compensate him or at least promise to do so later. Jahra Region: the legislative authority is also suspend- clare, despite their contradiction with the Constitution and the laws in force in the In a related development, Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim dis- Al-Naseem, Jaber Al-Ahmad Health Center 1 and Al-Nahda. ed. This is why the country is drowning closed that he discussed the issue with HH Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah The official spokesperson pointed out that the ministry is already admin- in interpretations and speculations of the country, clearly indicate a programmed demolition of the prestige of the execu- Al-Khalid who agreed to revise the decision; indicating the Ministerial istering vaccines in centres for the care of the disabled and the elderly and press and social media, which are filled Emergency Committee and representatives of the owners of small and me- plans to launch other campaigns in some public and oil sector establish- with questions about the fate that awaits tive authority. For example, when they insist on a total dium enterprises (SMEs) will meet on Sunday. ments in the country. the country financially and economically, Al-Ghanim also confirmed meeting the representatives of the owners of The Interior Ministry has called on the public to abide by the health authori- especially with the drop in the credit rat- amnesty law for the sake of three or four people who fled to Turkey to escape from SMEs in the presence of MPs Abdullah Al-Turaiji and Ahmed Al-Hamad. ties’ coronavirus-related instructions, warning that flouters will be penalized. ing for the second time in months, and the He said the representatives explained their suffering and the damages they In a press statement, the ministry demanded commitment to the provi- proliferation of international reports on final court rulings, this means that the government is unable to show the truth of have incurred because of the decisions related to combating coronavirus. He sions of law No. 8 of 1969 on health requirements for preventing commu- the decline in the public funds, which is then called on the Cabinet to suspend the implementation of the abovemen- nicable diseases due to the exceptional conditions the country undergo in sovereign money. the matter, given that people are taken in by the hype and the loudest voice. tioned decision as it will negatively affect a large number of Kuwaiti families. light of the coronavirus pandemic. The ministry warned that it will crack According to the viewpoints of some down and take all legal measures against the law violators. short-sighted experts, the sovereign fund As a result of this reality, everything Complaints in the country will have to wait until fur- If convicted, they will be jailed for up to six months and fined for up to is the avenue that can be used to cover MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji disclosed that he met with representatives of the the deficit. However, the reality is that it ther notice, while the economic situation KD 6,000 (USD 33,000) or one of the two penalties, it added. is getting worse. With the precaution- owners of SMEs, during which he listened to their complaints. He quoted The ministry urged both nationals and residents to stop holding gather- qualifies the state for borrowing, provided the representatives as saying that they should not be held responsible for that its assets remain far from any harm. ary measures to confront the new strain ings, including national days’ celebrations, wedding parties, receptions and There is much that can be said in this of COVID-19, there is no doubt that the the mistakes of other institutions, while stressing they are not against the others either in public or private places. regard, but the most important thing is number of institutions coming to financial move to combat coronavirus. He said the representatives have presented In compliance with the directive of high authorities, the Ministry of that the lack of turnout of ministers is default and failing to pay installments of alternative ways to combat coronavirus, without affecting them negatively. Health will speed up the COVID-19 vaccination process next week, reports caused by the lack of governmental sta- loans to banks will increase, and thus de- He appealed to HH Prime Minister to listen to the representatives prior to Annahar daily quoting sources from the health sector. bility and the weak performance that clare their bankruptcy. the implementation of the decision on Sunday. The ministry took this step after the health authorities were criticized for leaves many loopholes, which the MPs The solution is deliberate decisions by He added the owners of SMEs are planning to hold a demonstration on the slow vaccination process, which many described as below expectations. exploit to blackmail the Cabinet. a government that feels the pain of the Sunday to urge the Cabinet to consider their opinions and pay attention to Sources confirmed that the expansion of the vaccination campaign has Therefore, corruption is more wide- people and does not yield to opportunistic the negative consequences of the decision to the economy. two directions — first is to seek ways to accelerate procedures to receive spread instead of reform, which seems to MPs. MP Muhannad Al-Sayer called on the Cabinet to cancel the decision, shipments of vaccines reserved for Kuwait, whether from Pfizer or Oxford be a constructive slogan that will never There are many examples in the world indicating the latter focuses only on the health aspect of the issue with- or contracting other vaccine manufacturers.