Kuwait is intent on enforcing a tobacco smoking ban at educational institutions, according to a story in The Arab Times quoting the Al-Rai daily.
The deputy director-general for technical affairs at the Public Authority for the Environment (EPA) Mohammad Al-Enezi said EPA would soon make a tour of universities and colleges.
It intended to enforce an Environment Protection law that banned smoking inside educational institutions, including universities, colleges and applied institutes.
Al-Enezi said anyone caught smoking on campus or in building annexes would be fined KD50, while the institution would have to pay a fine of KD1,000 for its failure to protect its premises from smokers.
Tag: Kuwait
Educational enforcement
Licit cigarettes vanish
The majority of shops in Kuwait are empty of cigarettes, according to a story in The Kuwait Times.
But it is not clear why this situation has come about. Some people are claiming that supplies have been cut off deliberately ahead of price rises, while others are blaming mass purchases by smokers from neighboring countries where tax-induced price rises have been imposed recently.
The times said that it had been rumored that cigarette companies in Kuwait had made ‘preparations to increase cigarette prices,’ and that certain brands of cigarettes had disappeared from markets and grocery stores.
Such disappearances had opened up a black market in the brands in question.
Despite the disappearance of some brands and the claim that the majority of shops in Kuwait were bereft of cigarettes, The Times said that the ‘prices of most brands of cigarettes have increased by 100 to 200 fils’.
Last week, the Times reported that the prices of some popular brands of cigarettes had been increased in Kuwait by as much as 60 percent despite the rises being labeled as illegal by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Suppliers are apparently not allowed to increase the prices of goods unless they obtain approval from the ministry, which is usually given for imported goods, such as cigarettes, whose prices have increased in their country of origin.
If suppliers increase prices without approval, they are liable to be fined.
The Times reported this week that some smokers were complaining that cigarette traders had intentionally blocked the supply of cigarettes for the past 15 days in preparation for price rises.
Such a strategy was reportedly used before, in 2015, and at that time it provoked angry campaigns on social media. Smokers denounced cigarette shops for hoarding large quantities of cigarettes and clearing the shelves in anticipation of an official announcement to raise prices. Some sellers sold cigarettes at higher prices, as is happening again.
Some people believe that cigarette-price discussions are under way between representatives of the Ministry of Commerce and cigarette companies.Price war in Kuwait
The prices of some popular brands of cigarettes have been increased in Kuwait by as much as 60 percent despite the rises being labeled as illegal by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, according to a story in The Kuwait Times.
Suppliers are not allowed to increase the prices of goods unless they obtain approval from the ministry, which is usually given for imported goods, such as cigarettes, whose prices have increased in their country of origin.
If suppliers increase prices without approval, they are liable to be fined.
In its report on Monday, the Times said that, ‘for the past few days’, many brands, especially the brands whose prices were to be raised were not available from most supermarket cigarette kiosks.
On Thursday, a copy of a new price list, supposedly valid from February 11, had been issued by the company importing some brands of cigarettes and had circulated on social media.
Many smokers dismissed the information as being based on rumors, because similar announcements had been made last year and two years ago, but were never applied.
But most supermarkets and shops on Sunday were said to be selling these brands at the new prices.
Some were said to have hidden other popular brands of cigarettes so people wouldn’t buy them.
The Times reported that it had contacted the consumer protection department of the ministry, where an inspector had confirmed that the increase was illegal, because the ministry had not given approval.
He said the department had received hundreds of complaints from consumers regarding the price hike.
The department’s inspectors, he said, had been working since the news of the price rise had spread on Thursday.
They had issued fines for selling cigarettes at the increased prices, and for hiding cigarettes, which constituted illegal hoarding of goods.Market forces apply
The number of ‘runaway and absconding’ maids looking to earn attractive salaries in mixed-gender shisha cafés has increased sharply in Kuwait, even though the owners of the cafés are aware that the maids are violating residency laws by running away from their sponsors, according to a story in The Arab Times citing an Al-Shahed daily report.
Al-Shahed apparently said that this situation had occurred ‘due to the absence of tough security controls which has in turn been contributing to the aggravation of such negative phenomena and irregularities’.
Mixed-gender cafés in the Salmiya and Hawally areas are said to have contributed to the ‘huge presence of absconding maids who ran away from the houses of their sponsors’.
A law enacted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor does not permit the employment of women in shisha cafés.
Many of those with investments in shisha cafés, the majority of whom are expatriates, were seeking to maximize their profits by increasing the presence of women in their cafés, according to the Times.
They were said to choose ‘certain types of maids’ to work for them at salaries exceeding KD200 (US$833) per month.
The absconding maids happily agreed to work as they didn’t require work permits or visas.
Jail for uniformed smoker
An Interior Ministry officer in Kuwaiti has been sentenced to 20 days in jail for smoking shisha in café while wearing his uniform, according to a Gulf Digital News story citing a report in the Al Rai newspaper.
The officer was caught on a Smartphone picture as he was relaxing at a café in Al Farwaniya and smoking the shisha in breach of ministry regulations.
His picture was said to have gone viral on social media, triggering the ministry to act immediately.
Inspectors located the shisha café and caught the man red-handed within minutes.
The Assistant Undersecretary for Security Affairs lieutenant-general Ibrahim Al Tarrah was said to have given orders for the officer to be jailed for 20 days as a disciplinary measure.
