The Ministry of Communications said on Sunday it has reached an agreement with the Interior Ministry for the collection of bills from expats before they can leave the country and urged expats to abide by the new arrangements. Acting Communications Ministry Undersecretary Ahmad Al-Mejren said the measure will be implemented within a few days, adding that expats can pay bills through the Sahel application, the ministry’s webpage http://moc.gov.kw, visiting any telephone exchange office or the ministry’s office at the airport.
Payment of bills for various services has become compulsory for expats to be able to leave the country. Until now, they must pay traffic fines, while the compulsion to pay electricity and water bills will go into force on Sept 1. Almost all bills can be paid at the airport except traffic tickets for speeding and illegally using parking spaces allocated for the handicapped which must be paid at traffic offices.
Meanwhile, two lawmakers submitted draft laws on Sunday calling to amend the law to stiffen penalties for people driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and causing the death of people to up to 10 years in jail. The amendments came after the tragic accident that took place in the early hours of Thursday, in which a popular female influencer smashed into another car, resulting in the death of two Kuwaitis and wounding two others. The woman was reportedly driving while under the influence.
The interior ministry said on Sunday the woman has been remanded to jail for 10 days pending further investigations after she was charged with 10 counts. The influencer was charged with involuntary manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, speeding, running the red traffic light, reckless driving, driving a car with expired insurance, causing extreme harm to people and damaging public properties. A man who was in the car with the woman was released after a four-day detention pending further investigation.
In his amendments to the law, MP Saad Al-Khanfour called for treating traffic accidents that result in deaths as a crime and not as a misdemeanour, as in the current law. He also called for raising the jail term to a maximum of 10 years instead of several months in the existing legislation. MP Mohammad Hayef also called for increasing the jail term against motorists who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs and cause death or serious injury to others to between five and 10 years. Hayef proposed that people driving a vehicle, a boat or a jet ski under the influence of drugs or alcohol should face a jail term of up to five years and a fine of up to KD 5,000.
National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun meanwhile asked Defense Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah about a development budget of KD 37 billion approved in 2011. Saadoun asked about the fate of that budget and how it was spent, as he could not find any trace of it in repeated state budgets.
