RABIA ALAWWAL 30, 1441 AH WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 27, 2019 Max 27º 28 Pages Min 13º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 17995 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Trade exchange with Kuwait At Instagram hotspot, BJP forced out Philippines’ poverty-driven, 221$4bn in 2018: British envoy LOLs trumping likes 24 in Maharashtra 25 world-beating pool stars MPs call on premier to form Cabinet with clear roadmap Public revenues rise, but wages eat up over half the budget By B Izzak zenship matters, bedoons and achieving people’s aspi- rations. He said the premier must pay greater attention KUWAIT: MPs yesterday continued to press new to resolving financial problems facing the Kuwaiti peo- Prime Minister HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah ple, recalling that the country has provided loans worth to form a government with a clear roadmap to tackle KD 22 billion to 160 countries, while there are 400,000 major challenges facing the country, mainly fighting Kuwaiti debtors in the country. corruption and resolving the problem of stateless peo- With the ministers of defense and interior dismissed ple. MP Adel Al-Damkhi called on the premier, who and the foreign ministry vacant after his appointment as was appointed to the post for the first time after serv- PM, Sheikh Sabah is faced with the possibility of form- ing as foreign minister for several years, to fight cor- ing a Cabinet with almost new faces. Other ministers ruption and select ministers for the Cabinet “who have who may not return include the minister of public no black record”. works Jenan Bushehri, who resigned following a grilling He said the premier should not pick his Cabinet and former finance minister Nayef Al-Hajraf, who also based on interests or quotas or to make some people resigned before facing a grilling. MPs have also object- happy, warning the prime minister that he will bear the ed to the return of the ministers of education and health consequences of his selections. Damkhi also urged the and minister of state for Cabinet affairs. There have also prime minister to have a clear development plan that been some objections against the minister of commerce pays great attention to development and safeguards the and industry. interests of the nation. The lawmaker said the new gov- Meanwhile, the finance ministry told the Assembly’s ernment should apply the law equally and should apply budgets committee yesterday that government staff a real development plan unlike previous Cabinets which wages in the past fiscal year - 2018/2019 - topped KD were “full of big words but no substance”. 11.4 billion, more than half of the total spending of KD MP Thamer Al-Suwait said the prime minister must 21.8 billion. It also said oil revenues reached KD 18.4 have a clear national roadmap that paves the way for billion and made up around 90 percent of total public resolving major problems in the country including citi- revenues as a result of an increase in oil prices. DOHA: Fireworks are seen above Khalifa International stadium ahead of the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup Group A football match between Qatar and Iraq in the Qatari capital yesterday. — AFP (See Page 28) conference ahead of Kuwait’s opening Group B match Kuwait coach plays against Saudi Arabia today. “This certainly affected the sporting level of all the games, and even on the youth stages we saw a total down 10-time champs’ absence of Kuwaiti teams for four years. After suspen- sion, there has to be a rebuilding process of teams in chances in Gulf Cup all sports,” said Anad, who took over in September fol- lowing the dismissal of Croatian coach Romeo Jozak DOHA: Kuwait coach Thamer Anad played down his after defeat to Australia in the World Cup qualifiers. team’s chances in the Arabian Gulf Cup that kicked off “Kuwait are not favorites because of problems and in Qatar yesterday, as the Kuwaitis continue their suspension, (but) we are able to return Kuwait to its return to international competition after long suspen- position.” sions that have hurt sports in the country. Soccer’s The country has won the competition a record ten governing body FIFA in Dec 2017 lifted a suspension times. It will face a weakened Saudi Arabia team play- order on Kuwait that it imposed in 2015 over what it ing without Al-Hilal players today after the club’s Asian called government interference in the game. Champions League match in Japan on Sunday. Saudi In August, the International Olympic Committee Arabia said two weeks ago that it would join the (IOC) lifted its separate ban on Kuwait after nearly regional tournament, having initially decided to skip its four years. It had banned the country over a new 24th edition, which is being held in Qatar. Saudi Arabia sports law that it said interfered with the autonomy of and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt sev- the Olympic movement. “I think everyone knows the ered political, trade and transport ties with Qatar in conditions of the Kuwaiti team, the four-year suspen- mid-2017 over accusations that it supported terrorism. sion, the Kuwaiti sports problems,” Anad told a news Doha denies the charge.— Reuters employees is out of her jurisdiction as minister. Minister denies Aqeel expressed dissatisfaction with the publish- ing of false or fake news, be it intentionally or acci- dentally. She called for scrutinizing any news that firing Kuwait would cause instability at Kuwait Airways and affect its employees’ performance. Airways staff Kuwait Airways also rejected reports by some newspapers and on social media about Aqeel’s deci- sion to dismiss any of its pilots, engineers or By Meshaal Al-Enezi employees, noting that this is only up to Kuwait Airways, its board and executive management, KUWAIT: Minister of State for Economic Affairs which have no such intentions. In the statement, and Acting Finance Minister Mariam Al-Aqeel denied reports claiming that she gave orders to ter- Kuwait Airways Chairman Tousif Abdul Hameed Al- minate a number of Kuwaiti pilots, engineers and Jassim stressed Kuwait Airways has full pride in its employees at Kuwait Airways. “Such reports are employees in various positions, adding company completely fake,” Aqeel stressed, noting that hiring regulations mainly focus on the vocational security or terminating Kuwait Airways pilots, engineers or of all staff members. er notable accomplishment for Kuwaiti healthcare. He Kuwait’s first heart thanked everybody who contributed to the success of the country’s first heart transplant, including the surgi- cal team and staff members. transplant a success Meanwhile, HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah congratulated Sheikh Basel on the suc- KUWAIT: The first heart transplant surgery in Kuwait cess of the heart transplant. Heaping praise on this “his- has been completed successfully on a 20-year-old toric” healthcare achievement, the Amir expressed his patient, Health Minister Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah said warm sentiments in a cable he sent to the health minis- yesterday. The patient was being treated for a serious ter yesterday, in which he also acknowledged the cardiac ailment, where his failing heart was replaced meticulous efforts of the entire surgical team. with a healthy one from an organ donor, the minister Physicians Dr Riyadh Tarzi, Dr Mohamad Shamsa, said in a statement. The success of the procedure Dr Mohammad Al-Banna, Dr Khaldoun Al-Hamoud and required a great degree of meticulousness and prepa- Dr Mohammad Badwi were lionized by HH the Amir for ration, he explained, saying such an operation needed a their intellect and expertise that helped make the pro- state-of-the-art team and profound expertise. cedure a success. HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf On the success of the surgery, the minister said it Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and HH the Prime was a testament to the tremendous progress the health Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah ministry has made in recent years, besides being anoth- sent similar cables to the health minister. — KUNA 2 Local Wednesday, November 27, 2019 Trade exchange with Kuwait hit $4 billion in 2018: British envoy 10th British Trade Expo kicks off in Kuwait In my view We need to raise the bar to close the gap By Sami Dimassi s the world gets closer to celebrating the fourth anniversary of the landmark Paris Agreement, Athe optimism and enthusiasm surrounding this historic achievement is muted. Countries around the world have collectively failed to curb the rise of green- KUWAIT: His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah inaugurates the 10th British Trade British Ambassador to Kuwait Michael Davenport speaks house gas emissions, which have risen 1.5 percent per Expo.—Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat during the press conference. year in the last decade and hit a new high of 55.3 giga- tons of CO2 equivalent in 2018. In the absence of dras- tic change, scientists now expect to see a 3.2 degree C By Ben Garcia and KUNA rise in temperature by the end of this century. Today, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) KUWAIT: The volume of trade exchange between Kuwait and Britain reached $4 billion last year, British Ambassador released the tenth edition of its Emissions Gap Report, to Kuwait Michael Davenport said. Speaking at a press which makes for some stark reading. As it does every conference on the opening of the Kuwait-Britain exhibi- year, the report looks at the projected volume of green- tion, Davenport lauded the growing trade exchange house gas emissions in 2030 and the progress coun- between the two countries.