‘Need to counter Iraq blame’
‘UN resolutions end Bay issue’
“THE ‘sisterly’ country of Iraq knows more than any other party in the world that the international borders between Iraq and Kuwait were demarcated by a resolution issued by the United Nations and ratified by the Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). This resolution was accordingly approved by Kuwait and Iraq,” columnist, general manager of Scope Satellite TV Channel and former MP Talal Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“Given this fact the page of one hundred years of differences between Kuwait and Baghdad was turned over because during this period the country witnessed a lot of problems, the last of which was the heathenish Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait and Iraq paid its price.
“As a matter of fact, Iraq knows this fact and we too, and the United Nations knows it. However, here may wonder, what Iraq aims to achieve by filing a complaint with the United Nations against the State of Kuwait over the topic of the Kuwaiti Abdullah Bay?
“In reality every Iraqi regime that comes to power fabricates some sort of a problem with the State of Kuwait, not because Baghdad has any desire to solve the problem or sit around the table of negotiations but to keep the problem suspended between the two countries to use it as a ‘weapon’ at some point when the need arises or rather this problem is then inherited by the relevant successor.
“It is a well-known fact that the Iraqis are always at loggerheads with each other over everything, but when the issue is against Kuwait they unite. This is what we have always witnessed over the past years from the fall of the royal regime until the vicious Iraqi invasion and occupation of our country.
“Now the Iraqis have fabricated a new problem by filing a complaint against Kuwait at the United Nations although they know that the topic of border demarcation has been settled and is no longer a subject for negotiations.
“Consequently, this complaint will take its natural course and at the end will be rejected by the international community because the borders agreement between the two states has been settled and neither we nor they reserve the right to nullify any of its items and conditions.
“In other words, the issue of the borders between Kuwait and Iraq was duly settled more than two decades ago. But this complaint aims to tickle the emotions of the Iraqis who seem to be happy when problems with Kuwait are fabricated and the concerned officials seemingly continue in their game of political outbidding to make political gains, because these officials are under the impression that by agitating problems with the State of Kuwait they think can remain in harmony with the tendencies of the Iraqi street.
“But we in Kuwait must, without wasting time, expose the objectives of the Iraqi complaint at the local and international level for their opinion and deal with this complaint as an issue which needs to be clarified and sweep it under the carpet of the people who are looking to create problems.
“However, everybody must keep in mind that if we – God forbid – surrender the Abdullah Bay they (Iraq) will demand Kuwaiti Warba and Bubiyan Islands and their greed will be never-ending because we have learned the bitter lesson when they attempted to wipe the State of Kuwait from the world map by unfairly and aggressively annexing our homeland to Iraq.
“We say the entire world in general and the Kuwaitis in particular should know the above and we must not remain silent until the United Nations gives a befitting reply. In other words, we have to deal with the topic seriously by organizing seminars and symposiums.”
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“It is not strange to see Iraq sending a letter on Aug 7, 2019 to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) accusing Kuwait of making geographic changes along the maritime borders between the two countries,” columnist Adel Nayef Almezel wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“The Iraqi envoy to the UN Ambassador Muhammad Bahr Al-Oloum has handed over the letter to President of the Security Council requesting him to circulate it among the members and consider it as one of the UNSC documents.
“However, the contents of the letter embody Iraq’s protests that the State of Kuwait has unilaterally carried out geographical changes in the marine area at point 162 of Abdullah Bay to build two ports without informing Iraq.
“The Kuwaiti official was taken by surprise about this Iraqi complaint, and hinted the bilateral issues should be discussed by joint committees of the two countries. Moreover, the demarcation of borders between the two countries was done pursuant to the UNSC Resolution No. 833 of 1993. More so, fact the Fisht Al-Eij platform falls within Kuwait’s territorial waters and this has been historically and legally documented.
“Not only that, Iraq knows that Kuwait has made a lot of sacrifices during the liberation of Iraq from the former corrupt regime. Iraq knows that we opened our airspace, land and put our resources for the benefit of the operations for the liberation of Iraq and the Iraqis from this regime.
“Apart from the above, Kuwait put its resources and hospitals at the service of the Iraqis and even arranged convoys to send donations of Kuwaitis to their Iraqi brothers to alleviate their torment.
“Not just that, Kuwait is still doing everything to assist Iraq even through funds. In spite of the above, we see no gratitude, thanks or appreciation from Iraq to Kuwait.
“We pray to Almighty Allah to protect the State of Kuwait, the Amir, the people and all Muslim countries from every devilish action.”
“Not long ago, a campaign to cut off electricity from family houses where bachelors reside began. This makes us wonder: Is cutting off electricity the solution?” Saleh Muhammad Bushehri wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“The real tragedy lies in the number of bachelors which, according to the 2018 statistics, reached 1.8 million. The rates have been increasing every month since the spread of the phenomenon of increasing bachelors 20 years ago, resulting in the spread of the ‘sardine’ rooms. This is about accumulation of dozens of expatriates in a room without any sense of responsibility or sense of humanity towards them.
“Following local news, it is clear that this phenomenon has resulted in more negative phenomena such as the houses for illegal activities in bachelor areas, suicide by hanging, murders and kidnappings which exposed Kuwait to international criticism from human rights organizations. Despite the passage of years of the problems of foreigners, no one seems to want to solve the crisis in order to preserve Kuwait and the humanity of others.
“The government is deaf while the Parliament is following in the footsteps of the government, and the country suffers socially, humanly, economically and legally. The government and the Parliament are accused of failing to solve the problem. To date, there is no law that protects Kuwaitis, rights and humanity of expatriates. We say ‘to protect Kuwaitis’ because the product of oppression and depriving expatriates of humanity will be reflected on the citizens.
“Some expatriates hold grudges against a country they have moved to from poor life, hoping to get rich. Their collision with reality is filled with hatred and psychological nodes that turn some of them into desperate swindlers or criminals.
“The solution to the problem of high number of bachelor foreigners begins with solving the marginal workers issue, in addition to issuance of a law prohibiting the accumulation of individuals in one place. The Parliament, which did not give importance to this issue, should discuss legislation on rent criteria, such as limiting the number of inhabitants according to the size of the area and implementing deterrent laws.”
“The people of Kuwait suffer from terrible psychological crisis because of the large number of problems resulting from deterioration of services provided by state institutions”, Jassem Al-Tunaib wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“Kuwaiti people, who gave their every precious thing to this country, suffer a lot when they want to complete a transaction, to such an extent that they start feeling like aliens in their own country.
“The government and the National Assembly are inactive in terms of fulfilling their duties which include providing distinguished services to citizens especially when they live in a rich country with tremendous fortune.
“It is true that we in Kuwait enjoy security and stability that many of our neighboring countries lack but this does not mean we must suffer from lack of services.
“The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) is an example of the causes of citizens’ suffering. They spend a long time and exert a lot of effort to complete one transaction. They have to keep moving in and out of different offices in PAM especially floors 5 and 13 where they end up wasting days and even months in order to complete their transactions.
“The same happens at the Public Authority for Disabled Affairs, which was established for facilitating procedures and transactions for the disabled. On the contrary, we see doors being closed for the disabled who wait a long time in order to meet the person incharge.
“Overseas Treatment Department at Ministry of Health also has a lot of disorder. The requests of patients to extend the period for overseas medical treatment are dismissed in most cases due to the abuse of power of some officials.
“Conditions at Ministry of Electricity and Water are not better than those in the above-mentioned examples. Some citizens are surprised by cutting of water supply in their houses, perhaps due to accumulated bills. Water is the most fundamental factor for life but it seems the ministry has a different viewpoint. Citizens may have to go back to collecting water in water buckets.”
“The observer of the progress of Kuwait 2035 Vision doubts that it will be accomplished within the specified period due to the lack of executive procedures on implementation of projects therein, financial resources and mechanism for human resource investment,” columnist Faisal Al-Sharifi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“We felt good upon hearing the statement of HH the Prime Minister urging senior officials to meet the requirements of Kuwait 2035 or leave their positions. He seemed to hide his exasperation over incompetent officials who were appointed due to ‘wasta,’ as if they were brought to their senior positions by a parachute.
“Nevertheless, the conditions remained as they are and could be worse since most of the recent appointments were done in the same suspicious manner despite the fact that the government specified the criteria for appointing senior officials.
“Defining the financial situation of a State requires defining its economic and industrial identity through executive programs, providing a suitable environment, and enforcing laws which attract investors, serve the interests of the State and protect its sovereignty.
“Citizens are inquiring about the progress of Kuwait Vision 2035. Perhaps, the answer will come from First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. I think he has the information which will erase the worries of citizens.
“The government promised to invest billions of dinars on the islands development project. However, it did not reveal the way of reaching this target. Moreover, it did not reveal the investors or the way the citizens will participate in such project, especially the owners of small and medium businesses.
“Recently, the government asked the citizens to present personal initiatives and suggestions to help improve performance. We can say the government wants to receive the citizens’ points of view in order to consider them in laying down development plans. Nevertheless, this step reveals the truth that the government has no real solution and it only reacts to situations, instead of adopting creative initiatives.
“I am not going to talk about the National Assembly since it is already out of service.”
“The crisis of narcotic addiction is not limited to a country or a certain society. Kuwait is not exempted from being afflicted by this evil. Many of our youths – male and female – are suffering from it. The core problem is lack of understanding of this pandemic and inability to contain it,” columnist Ghanima Habeeb wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“For starters, some concepts in society must be changed, such as the notion that addiction is a chronic disease and those suffering from it have a tendency for addictive behavior, but the addiction itself is not considered a crime or pervasion. An addict is a sick person who needs rehabilitation, in addition to the fact that addiction is a social problem which needs participation of everyone including the State in order to heal and to protect the society through guidance, awareness and follow up.
“There is no longer a point to mention addiction in figures, its magnitude is clear to everyone, hence, the decision makers need to reconsider the means of dealing with this affliction and to water down all barriers to remedying this evil for the future of our children. We should stand hand in hand to protect our next generations, and this starts by protecting our youths.”