The promising development plan, which is worth $145 billion, must be supported strongly by the new Parliament and Government and must become a priority.
This plan includes the building of new cities for the growing population, which has reached over 3 million. It will include more schools, hospitals, hotels, educational institutions and health cities. Then the transportation system must be upgraded with a modern underground system.
It has been a great move, as the GCC are building a railway network that will be cross international borders and will interlink cities and capitals in an easy way to move people, services and products from one GCC country to another.
However, those countries with a high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) mostly use luxury vehicles. Each family has around four to ten cars, either to drive personally or by drivers. They definitely need more environmentally friendly means of transportation. We should reconsider a new culture of using modern public transportation in the region, and that surly needs advanced urban planning given the congested roads and the small size of the city.
By Labeed Abdal
labeed.abdal@gmail.com
http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/04/18/taking-the-tube-in-kuwait/
Thursday 19 April 2012
Wednesday 18 April 2012
Challenges for new expats
When entering Kuwait for the first time, one can only wonder about the right source of guidance for doing things correctly.
There are difficulties like getting a driving license, getting married, getting a loan, getting labor rights and dues, moving from one address to another, paying traffic violations, making family or commercial visas, or renting an apartment or leaving it …etc.These issues are not limited to Western expatriates alone; they concern Arab expatriates too.
The above mentioned difficulties are very much influenced by the type of employers. If we have a responsible and trustworthy one, for sure most of the above mentioned points will be easily resolved and supported, while it will be the opposite if employers are corrupt and using the company to misuse and mislead people by mainly selling visas on the black market.
That just means that the irresponsible companies must be monitored and inspected carefully, in a way that they can be eliminated and weeded out from the market by first fining them and then canceling their license.
However, the big companies in Kuwait must also contribute to their social responsibilities and be an example to be followed by the small and medium ones.
Also, given the increased number of expatriate workers, we need in Kuwait to separate social affairs from labor matters at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. To make sure of that, we can establish a new public authority for labor to do better monitoring of the labor sector, upgrade the quantity of the supporting public employees and the quality of service.
Frankly, with that in mind, we will for sure make a more positive impact in the country, like having a more welcoming working environment and with less headache.
No doubt, urgent and condensed efforts in that area will improve the social and general wellbeing of the work force in Kuwait to a much better condition!
By Labeed Abdal
labeed.abdal@gmail.com
http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/04/17/challenges-for-new-expats/
There are difficulties like getting a driving license, getting married, getting a loan, getting labor rights and dues, moving from one address to another, paying traffic violations, making family or commercial visas, or renting an apartment or leaving it …etc.These issues are not limited to Western expatriates alone; they concern Arab expatriates too.
The above mentioned difficulties are very much influenced by the type of employers. If we have a responsible and trustworthy one, for sure most of the above mentioned points will be easily resolved and supported, while it will be the opposite if employers are corrupt and using the company to misuse and mislead people by mainly selling visas on the black market.
That just means that the irresponsible companies must be monitored and inspected carefully, in a way that they can be eliminated and weeded out from the market by first fining them and then canceling their license.
However, the big companies in Kuwait must also contribute to their social responsibilities and be an example to be followed by the small and medium ones.
Also, given the increased number of expatriate workers, we need in Kuwait to separate social affairs from labor matters at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. To make sure of that, we can establish a new public authority for labor to do better monitoring of the labor sector, upgrade the quantity of the supporting public employees and the quality of service.
Frankly, with that in mind, we will for sure make a more positive impact in the country, like having a more welcoming working environment and with less headache.
No doubt, urgent and condensed efforts in that area will improve the social and general wellbeing of the work force in Kuwait to a much better condition!
By Labeed Abdal
labeed.abdal@gmail.com
http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/04/17/challenges-for-new-expats/
Monday 16 April 2012
You are being watched
With rapid advancements made in the fields of information technology and communications through medium like Facebook, Twitter, ‘online revelations’ took the lead and toppled governments and regimes.
Order and security establishments all over the world have begun considering those developments, going on to create cyber police units to monitor every tweet.More cameras will be installed on streets, an inevitable step they have to take so as to prevent crimes.
No doubt the changes happening in our lives have a bright side. We deal with smart phones and ecloud computing. All that has truly made us do things easier in a different fashion.
That said, we should not compromise our privacy or freedom or make our liberties threatened. This has threatened security surveillance.Twitter, Facebook and Youtube were immensely used in Kuwait before the fall of the last government; they were used in many cases of personal defamation and cases of religious assaults .
The Kuwaiti legislative power must bring this issue to top priority as we must protect our national security. Personal data or the right of expression should be protected, while prosecuting the accused or protecting the rights of victims.
Certainly, those who fail to respect privacy and or dignity – which is protected by the Constitution of Kuwait, even individuals, must be brought to justice, if they break the law or overstep its boundaries.
By Labeed Abdal
labeeed.abdal@gmail.com
http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/04/15/14622/
Order and security establishments all over the world have begun considering those developments, going on to create cyber police units to monitor every tweet.More cameras will be installed on streets, an inevitable step they have to take so as to prevent crimes.
No doubt the changes happening in our lives have a bright side. We deal with smart phones and ecloud computing. All that has truly made us do things easier in a different fashion.
That said, we should not compromise our privacy or freedom or make our liberties threatened. This has threatened security surveillance.Twitter, Facebook and Youtube were immensely used in Kuwait before the fall of the last government; they were used in many cases of personal defamation and cases of religious assaults .
The Kuwaiti legislative power must bring this issue to top priority as we must protect our national security. Personal data or the right of expression should be protected, while prosecuting the accused or protecting the rights of victims.
Certainly, those who fail to respect privacy and or dignity – which is protected by the Constitution of Kuwait, even individuals, must be brought to justice, if they break the law or overstep its boundaries.
By Labeed Abdal
labeeed.abdal@gmail.com
http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/04/15/14622/
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