SUBSCRIPTION WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2013 JAMADA ALTHANI 28, 1434 AH www.kuwaittimes.net 20 dead Man City in Mexico edge gas tanker West Brom truck blast7 20 Dow receives $2.2bn in Max 36º Min 20º damages from Kuwait High Tide 10:48 & 23:57 Low Tide Amount does not include $300m interest for payment delay 04:52 & 17:38 40 PAGES NO: 15802 150 FILS KUWAIT: Kuwait’s state-owned Petrochemical conspiracy theories Industries Co (PIC) said yesterday it reached a final set- tlement with US giant Dow Chemical and paid around $2.2 billion as a penalty for scrapping a joint venture. PIC said in a statement cited by the official KUNA news As usual, agency that the amount did not include $300 million of interest for delaying the payment awarded a year ago. “The settlement stipulates that PIC pays the value of halfway damages and costs as per the ruling of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) without the interest of $300 million,” the statement said. solutions The US company said on its website that it has received the cash payment, which “reflects the full dam- ages awarded by the ICC, as well as recovery of Dow’s costs”. PIC confirmed it had made the payment and that it had “exhausted all possible challenges to the award”. Last May, the ICC acting as an international arbitration granted Dow Chemical around $2.2 billion in compen- By Badrya Darwish sation for Kuwait pulling out of the $17.4 billion ven- ture. “Dow and Kuwait share a long history, and payment of this award brings final and appropriate resolution and closure to the issue,” Andrew Liveris, Dow chairman CLEVELAND, Ohio: Amanda Berry (center) is reunited with her sister [email protected] and chief executive officer said in a statement. “Our (left) on Monday after Berry and two other women who had been partnership with Kuwait includes several industry-lead- missing for a decade were found alive in a house not far from where ing joint ventures, which are valuable assets in Dow’s they were last seen. (Inset) Undated handout photos provided by fter many years and many parliaments have portfolio and have consistently returned accretive equi- the FBI show Berry (left) and Georgina ‘Gina’ Dejesus. — AFP come and gone, the housing allowance has ty earnings to Dow,” he said. “Receipt of this award Areached an almost decision-making stage. I enables Dow to accelerate actions that are in line with do not know why MPs waste our time and their time Three US women missing our stated priorities for uses of cash - foremost of which in solving problems halfway only. All of us in Kuwait, is paying down debt and remunerating shareholders,” including MPs, know that the KD 70,000 which the Liveris said. government grants to Kuwaitis to build a house, is for decade found alive In Dec 2008, the Kuwaiti government scrapped the not enough to build even a room. deal between PIC and Dow to create a petrochemicals The land is the actual problem in Kuwait joint venture due to pressure from opposition MPs cit- although everyone pretends to close their eyes on 3 brothers arrested in stunning case ing the global financial crisis. Under the deal, PIC was to this. Land in Kuwait is the most expensive on earth. CLEVELAND, Ohio: Three brothers have been arrest- the delicate task of interviewing Amanda Berry, Gina pay $7.5 billion to form a petrochemicals firm known as It has exceeded the prices of land in Japan too. Who ed in the US city of Cleveland in connection with the DeJesus and Michele Knight. Police did confirm that K-Dow. The parliament elected in December has asked decided to price land in Kuwait for as much? What kidnapping of three women found safe in a home Berry, now 27, has a six-year-old daughter, apparently its public funds protection panel to investigate the could somebody do with the land for such a price? after being missing for a decade, authorities said yes- born while she was in captivity. The three Ohio implications of signing and then cancelling the deal Should someone buy land in Salalah for this amount terday. There were more questions than answers the women were abducted separately in 2002, 2003 and with Dow. The panel has not yet completed its probe. of money? day after the stunning turn of events that began with 2004 but were found in the home of 52-year-old Ariel Dow and PIC currently operate four other joint ven- Parliament wants to do us a favour and tell us a frantic arm sticking out of a screen door, a woman Castro, not far from where each disappeared. Castro tures, including ME Global, EQUATE, Kuwait Olefins Co that they fight for us. They want to show us that screaming for help, and a neighbor kicking in the and his brothers - Pedro, 54, and Oneil, 50 - have been and Kuwait Styrene Co. “The question is: why didn’t they have increased the housing loan to KD 100,000. door to free her in a working-class neighborhood of detained, authorities said. Kuwait deal earlier with Dow?” Kuwait-based independ- They know very well that even if they increase the the city in the American heartland. It was not immediately clear why the women were ent oil analyst Kamel Al-Harami said, referring to the housing loan to KD 150,000, this money will not be Authorities said it will be some time before the abducted and how they were held. delay in paying the penalty, which resulted in interest useful for anything. A simple calculation shows that details of the ordeal come out, as FBI agents go about Continued on Page 13 costs. Even though the dispute is over, “a bitter feeling even a plot of land is more expensive. Even if some- will remain here”, he said. — Agencies one settles for a plot that is 350 sq m wide, which is the minimum to build a house, then how much PAGE PAGE would it cost him? I am not going to be picky and Morsi brings more Iranian presidential choosy saying: “I want Rawda or Khaldiya.” Land is a problem in Kuwait. When parliament Islamists to Cabinet first convened, we heard voices criticizing the price race gets underway of land in the country. They promised to have an inquiry and discuss the price of land. Then what happened was “the silence of the lambs”. We have not heard anything after that. I do not know who SARS-like virus kills 2 more Saudis told them to shut up on the topic. Obviously it is someone who has vested interest in land. GENEVA: Two more people in Saudi Arabia have died from a Other strains of coronavirus can cause common colds but Saudi Arabia has reported 23 confirmed cases in total, If you want to help young Kuwaitis and Kuwaiti new strain of coronavirus that has emerged in the Middle also the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Qatar two, Jordan two, Britain two and the United Arab families who want to build houses and who meet East, bringing the toll in the kingdom’s latest outbreak to sev- that emerged in Asia in 2003. There is no evidence yet of sus- Emirates one, according to the WHO. “WHO does not advise the requirements to take a loan, it has to be bundled en, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday. Six tained human-to-human spread of the new virus, but there special screening at ports of entry with regard to this event, with getting a plot of land. Otherwise, forget it! Do other people are infected, one of them critically ill, in an out- are concerns about clusters of cases reported by the WHO in nor does it recommend that any travel or trade restrictions not always settle with halfway solutions. This is the break centred on a healthcare facility in Al Ahsa governorate Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany and Britain. A retrospective be applied,” Thomas said. “Based on the current situation problem with every matter in Kuwait. I challenge all in Eastern Province, WHO spokesman Glenn Thomas said in study in Jordan found that there had been an outbreak of and available information, WHO encourages all member of you to discuss the price of land. I challenge you to Geneva. Worldwide, there have been 30 laboratory-con- the new virus there as long ago as April 2012, with two con- states to continue their surveillance for severe, acute respi- discuss why is land so expensive to buy. firmed infections with the new virus, including 18 deaths, firmed cases and 11 probable ones, including 10 health care ratory infections and to carefully review any unusual pat- since it came to scientists’ attention last September, he said. workers, Thomas told Reuters. terns,” he added. — Agencies Imran Khan injured in fall MP wants citizenship for non-Muslims too LAHORE: Pakistani politician and former cricketer Imran Khan was rushed to hospital with head injuries yester- day after falling off a lift taking him onto the stage for an Panel OKs raising housing loan election rally. He fell at least 5 m (15 ft), and it’s not clear By B Izzak the religious precondition for granting what type of surface he fell onto. Television footage citizenship contradicts the freedom of showed Khan, leader of the Pakistan Movement for KUWAIT: MP Khalil Al-Saleh yesterday belief and faith which is enshrined in the Justice party (PTI), bleeding from the head as he was car- submitted a draft law calling to amend Kuwaiti constitution.