SUBSCRIPTION SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2014 RABI ALAWWAL 5, 1436 AH No: 16385 Bitter shoppers Asia mourns Slick Chelsea claim theft at tsunami dead give West Ham co-op societies2 10 years7 on Christmas48 blues Kuwaitis’ spouses, kids, maids exempt from fines Min 05º 150 Fils Egyptian who hit embassy clerk to be deported Max 22º KUWAIT: The interior minister yesterday be immediately processed at the service cen- Thursday. Scores of Egyptians had thronged ministry’s domain of being in charge of pro- issued a directive exempting citizens’ domes- ters without having to send them to the the embassy to renew their passports after tecting diplomatic premises in Kuwait, it not- tic workers holding article 20 residency visas directorate. The directive explained that arti- they were found in violation of residency ed. It also aims at deterring any potential and citizens’ expatriate spouses and children cle 22 dependant visa holders to be exempt- rules according to the relevant law. transgression against embassies, consulates holding article 22 residency visas from the ed include the children and husbands of Although the clerk waived the right to or any other diplomatic premises, as well as fines levied for failing to update their pass- Kuwaiti women holding article 1, 5 and 7 citi- prosecute the attacker, the interior ministry’s confirming commitment to public order and port information on interior ministry systems. zenships. security bodies are taking deterrent legal proper conduct, the statement emphasized. The directive, issued and signed by the Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry yesterday measures against the suspect with an admin- The ministry stressed that it will not tolerate director of the citizen service centers’ direc- said security authorities are taking adminis- istrative deportation decision as a public any violation against the law and public torate Maj Gen Anwar Al-Barjas, said the trative deportation measures against an right, the ministry’s security media depart- order regarding diplomatic missions or exemption would take effect tomorrow (Dec Egyptian who attacked a compatriot working ment said in a press statement. neglecting instructions by security bodies for 28), when all exempted transactions would as a clerk at their country’s embassy on The decision has been taken as part of the any reason or pretext. — Agencies KUWAIT: (Left) Indian Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan waves to the crowd during the opening of a Kalyan Jewellers store in Kuwait City yesterday. Kalyan, one of India’s largest jewellery chains, opened three showrooms in Rai, Maliya and Fahaheel yesterday. (Right) Telugu star Nagarjuna, Tamil actor Prabhu and Malayalam actress Manju Warrier also attended the inaugurations. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat Egypt axes ‘Exodus’ film, citing mistakes CAIRO: Egypt has banned the Hollywood biblical epic movie The ban was decided by a committee comprising the Centre, media reported on Thursday, quoting theatre man- “Exodus: Gods and Kings” citing historical inaccuracies, the head of the supreme council for culture, Mohammed Afifi, agers. Hassan Belkady, who runs Cinema Rif in Casablanca, culture minister said yesterday, a day after a similar move by the head of the censorship committee and two history pro- told media24 news website that he had been threatened Morocco. The film relates how Moses (PBUH) helped Israelites fessors, said Asfour. Afifi said he took issue with the scene with the closure of his business if he ignored the ban. “They flee persecution in Egypt under the Pharaoh Ramses by part- showing the parting of the Red Sea in which Moses - a phoned and threatened they would shut down the theatre if ing the Red Sea to let them cross safely. Culture Minister prophet revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike - is I did not take the film off the schedule,” Belkady said. Gaber Asfour told AFP Ridley Scott’s blockbuster was rife seen holding a “sword” like a warrior, instead of a “stick”. In March, Al-Azhar, Egypt’s top Islamic body, banned the with mistakes, including an apparent claim that “Moses and Furthermore, he said, the parting of the Red Sea is explained screening of “Noah”, another Hollywood biblical epic starring the Jews built the pyramids”. “This totally contradicts proven in the movie as a “tidal phenomenon” rather than a divine Russell Crowe, saying it violated Islam by portraying a historical facts,” Asfour said. “It is a Zionist film,” he said. “It miracle. prophet. The film triggered controversy in the United States, gives a Zionist view of history and contains historical inaccu- Morocco has also banned the film, despite it already hav- where some Christian institutions criticized Crowe’s report- racies and that’s why we have decided to ban it.” ing been approved by the state-run Moroccan Cinema edly unconventional portrayal of Noah (PBUH). — AFP LOCAL SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2014 Bitter shoppers claim theft at co-op societies Workers’ honesty questioned over missing items By Faten Omar KUWAIT: Co-operative society workers are allegedly stealing food products, clothes and a lot of other items daily from dis- tracted shoppers. Many people have noticed that after returning home after shopping at co-ops, some items that are on the receipt are missing from the bags. Some women have children to take care of, and do not pay attention to where the bagger puts the things they bought. They also get in the car and wait for the worker to load the bags in the trunk. Small bags and shopping carts full of groceries are exploit- ed by thieves to distract people to steal stuff without notic- ing. “Items on the lower part of a shopping cart are easy to forget about, and that is what happened to me when I searched for the vegetable boxes I had bought,” said Lina Yousef, a housewife. “I cannot count how many times this has happened to me. Once when I got home I noticed that a laptop stand that I had just bought was missing, so I went back asking for it. But the manager said the receipt showed that I took it. I told him I did not, but he did not believe me, and did not even bother to check the cameras,” said Hiba Ismael, also a housewife. Cashiers too With a loud voice and anger on her face, another shopper claimed she has repeatedly suffered from workers of co-oper- ative societies, specially the cashiers. “I always want to check KUWAIT: A worker puts groceries inside the trunk of a customer’s car at a local co-op society’s parking lot. my receipt and my money when they give it to me, but I feel — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat shy to do so in front of people,” said Abeer Bseso, a single woman living alone in Kuwait. Bseso noted that people should always count the change. “With KD 40, the only amount that was left from my salary, I went as usual to buy KPC new 5-year plan groceries that cost me KD 22, but the change I got was KD 8 instead of 18”. Um Mohammad, a housewife with four children, con- offers 7,851 jobs curred. She said she has been in the same situation when the cashier tripled the price of the meat she bought, and she once saw a worker hiding small, expensive items under the bags behind the cashier. PIC sign aromatics plant deal KUWAIT: Kuwait Petroleum affect the employment process in the tors of the Corporation. Co-ops history Corporation’s (KPC) five-year plan sector. On her part, Ibtihaj Al-Fawzan, Cooperative societies are considered among the most (2015-2020) envisages creating 7,851 KPC human resource strategy advisor Aromatics plant important economic establishments in Kuwait. They encom- new jobs at the Corporation and its sub- and director of worker affairs, said the Separately, Petrochemical Industries pass 70 percent of the retail trade in the country. At the same sidiaries, the KPC announced on Corporation adopted 11 initiatives for Company (PIC), a KPC subsidiary, said time, they play an important social and political role. Thursday. human resources. “The training pro- Thursday it signed a deal with Bahrain’s Cooperative societies in Kuwait look very much like modern These include 3,743 jobs for new grams constitute the main part of the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) commercial complexes. Kuwaiti graduates and 4,108 for experi- KPC strategy for human resources to partner in launching a plant for aro- The first attempts of consumer cooperation in Kuwait enced Kuwaitis and foreigners, Ahmad development which targets the best matics. The deal, signed by PIC’s Deputy started at Mubarakiya School in 1941 by establishing the Al-Hamad, KPC Deputy Managing possible performance of the workers at CEO for Aromatics Hadi Abul, provides school’s cooperative society. Some other cooperative soci- Director for Administrative Affairs, said the KPC and its all subsidiaries,” she not- for developing the feasibility study of, eties followed in some governmental entities in 1955 like the at a press conference on “KPC strategy ed. Fawzan added that the training pro- and operating, the plant to be launched cooperative society of the social affairs department and the for human resources.” grams are supervised by a higher com- in the Kingdom of Bahrain, according to education department. Those cooperatives were subject to “The current fiscal year, ending on mittee made up of the managing direc- a PIC statement. — KUNA the law of social organizations and clubs due to the non-exis- March 31, 2015, saw the employment of tence of a law for cooperatives at that time. Organized con- 650 workers, thus taking the total num- sumer cooperatives started only with the issuance of the law ber of new jobs in the current five-year No.