L O C A LWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2014

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah received at Bayan Palace yesterday MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji and members of the Arab Scout Parliamentary Union. During the meeting, His Highness stressed the social and humanitarian role of theScout movement in the Arab world through the provision of aid to the needy people.

KUWAIT: An introductory meeting heldin Surra by MP Ali Al-Rashed Mondaynight with various youth groups to thegroup ‘Masar’ ended with an announce-ment that registration has begun. Morethan 100 citizens of both gendersattended the meeting headed by MPSafa Al-Hashim, former municipal coun-cil member Basil Al-Jaser, journalists,academics and various dignitaries whorepresented all groups in Kuwait society.

Al-Rashed said he was pleased withthe presence of an elite group ofKuwaitis at the group’s premises inSurra. He said the group is patriotic anddemocratic that works for the sake ofKuwait to correct the deteriorating situ-ation in the form of corruption and theftin the absence of the government’s roleand failure of the latest governmentsthat do not work for the sake of reformand the country’s development.

Al-Rashed said he is totally depressedof what is going on in Kuwait, but hasnot given up to ‘remove the tumor fromthe body of this dear homeland.’ Hehoped that the group becomes a pathfor reform and defend the gains andrights of the silent majority that is notpleased with negligence. He called uponKuwaitis to join, adding that ‘we do nothave an agenda other than the safetyand security of Kuwait, and protect itfrom corruptors’.

‘Our problem is with the prime minis-ter, because he is not fit to run the state,and I have said this many times, despiteour respect to his person,’ Al-Rashedcharged. ‘We do not keep anyone fromparticipating with us, even the ‘orangeopposition’, because today there is nodifference between orange or blue,because we all work for the sake ofKuwait.

Top priority to safety,

security of Kuwait

By Sajeev K Peter

KUWAIT: The alleged harassment by alandlord in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh hasassumed alarming proportions, with theelevator of the nine storey building nowout of order, compounding the misery ofthe tenants. The water supply has alreadybeen cut in what tenants argue is delib-erate coercion to force them to sign anew rental contract with a KD 20increase. “It is a blatant violation ofhuman rights to inflict such an ordeal on

the tenants. It is painful to see womenclimb up steps carrying buckets full ofwater to their 8th floor apartments. Evenpregnant and old women are amongthem,” said Somu Mathew, a communityactivist.

With the lift out of order, many ten-ants complain that the floors of thebuilding have become slippery, posingrisks to the tenants, especially womenand children who have to climb up anddown. The distressed tenants, who con-stitute working people, nurses, bankemployees and private employees, havetaken the issue to court to get a legalremedy to their grievances. They alsoapproached the Indian Embassy and thelocal police station in addition to govern-ment officials in Kerala and Delhi.According to the current rental contract,that was signed on March 1, 2013, thetenants have to pay a monthly rent of KD230 plus KD 5 to the haris (janitor). Thetenants say they pay their monthly renton or before the 5th of every month.“The rent for December 2013 was paidby all the tenants. Still, the tap water linewas closed by the haris,” said one tenantrequesting anonymity. According to ten-ants, the landlord approached them inSept 2013 to raise the rent to KD 250, anincrease of KD 20 per month. The Kuwaitrental law stipulates that the owner of anapartment cannot increase the rent with-in five years of a rental contract.

Since the landlord sought to increasethe rent even before the completion of

one year, the tenants refused to sign thenew contract. The landlord returned tothe tenants again in Nov 2013 askingthem to sign the KD 250 contract. Theresidents refused again, quoting theKuwait rent law.

Meanwhile, various social organiza-tions in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh convened ameeting of the tenants on Monday at the

United Indian School and discussedmeans to alleviate the suffering of thetenants. The members of the associationsextended their solidarity with them.Some of them volunteered to carry waterto their homes to ease their misery. Theyhave called another meeting tomorrowat 11 am at the United Indian School todiscuss the further course of action.

Jleeb landlord puts lift

out of order, cuts water No respite to suffering tenants

KUWAIT: Community volunteers fill up buckets for supplying water to apartments ofa building where the water supply was cut off.

KUWAIT: Nearly 100 Kuwait Airways employeesstaged a sit-in at the airline’s offices on Monday todemand equal pay with their peers in the KuwaitAviation Services Company.

According to a report published by Al-Qabas yester-day, many of the employees who took part in the two-hour sit-in complained from the ‘huge difference’between their salaries and what KASCO employeeswith similar qualifications are paid.

The demonstrators also expressed their frustrationthat they are paid less than employees of a companythat is affiliated to the KAC, as well as the fact that theirdemands were ignored even after previous boardsgave initial approval. They said that the sit-ins will con-tinue daily until their demands are met.

Meanwhile, Al-Qabas reported that humanresources officials met with the frustrated employeesand discussed their demands. Sources within the KAClabor union, which was not represented in the sit-in,also revealed that they have repeatedly made thedemands to the KAC management “through officialand legal means”.

Al-Qabas also spoke with management memberswho said that the demands remain under discussion,but hinted that they cannot be approved until the par-liament votes on amendments to the KAC’s privatiza-tion law in its second hearing, the paper reported.

KAC staff demand

equal pay

KUWAIT: Director of the ‘Mega Projects 3’ group at KuwaitOil Company (KOC) Yaqoub Dashti said yesterday that thenew Ahmadi Hospital would be ready to receive patientsby the end of the year with a capacity of 300 beds at a costof about KD87 million.

Dashti said at a news conference to announce thedetails of the project that nearly 64 percent of the projecthas been completed, adding that the hospital will serveabout 120,000 patients registered in the oil sector, theirfamilies and retirees.

He said the new hospital project, which includes 300beds equipped with the latest international medical speci-fications, in addition to the provision of secondary healthcare, can also be extended to accommodate nearly 400beds.

He explained that the project site area stands at nearly380,000 square meters, while medical and non-medicalbuildings stand at 80,000 square meters and includes afour-storey, in addition to a parking site that can accom-modate nearly 1,000 vehicles, a helicopter landing areaand residential buildings for medical staff with a capacityof 254 units.

He said the cost of the projects executed by the groupstand at nearly KD three billion. — KUNA

New Ahmadi

Hospital opening

this year

KUWAIT: The new Ahmadi Hospital construction workin full swing.

‘Conspiracy tape’ suspect remanded in custodyKUWAIT: A man arrested under suspicionsof operating a Twitter account used tospread rumors about an alleged conspiracyagainst Kuwait ’s ruling structure wasremanded in custody Monday after beingquestioned for the second day since hewas referred to the Public Prosecution.

The man was arrested on Sunday, andone day after the Public Prosecution took

over the case which was filed by formerparliament speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi.Khorafi demanded action to investigateallegations which accused him of conspir-ing with former prime minister SheikhNasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah against theruling structure.

The man reportedly operated a Twitteraccount with the handle @7R77777 which

he used to claim that an audio recording ofthe alleged conversation was in possessionof former minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-FahdAl-Sabah.

Meanwhile, a source with knowledge ofthe investigations told Al-Qabas daily thatdetectives searched the suspect’s housebased on orders of the public prosecution.“The process which involves searching a

suspect’s house and gather as much infor-mation about him as possible is a generalmeasure in state security cases,” the sourcenoted.

There is currently no set date for wheninvestigations are expected to be con-cluded, af ter which the case wi l l bereferred to the criminal court as a statesecurity lawsuit.

KUWAIT: The Interior Ministry’s security media departmentfinally put an end to speculations and social media storiesabout an argument and accusations exchanged between acitizen and traffic policeman over a traffic ticket.

The department said that both parties were referred tofurther investigations at MoI’s inspection and controldepartment. Moreover, the social media departmentstressed that the interior ministry was always keen onunbiased and fair investigation of such topics in a way thatmaintains law, security agent prestige and citizen rightsand dignity at the same time.

MoI refers citizen,

traffic officer for

investigation

The nine storey building in Jleeb.