LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2019

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‘Blood bank receives 79,000bags, 8,000 platelets in 2019’

MoH’s Al-Rifai thanks donors for their efforts

KUWAIT CITY, June 16, (KUNA): Blood donations worth 79,000 bags and 8,000 platelets have been generously contributed to the Kuwait Central Blood Bank by Kuwaitis and the nationals of 75 countries, a Health Ministry offi cial said on Saturday.

In an address a day after World Blood Donor Day, Assistant Un-dersecretary for Medical Support Services Fawaz Al-Rifai thanked donors for their efforts, which

have helped in saving the lives of others.

Speaking of Kuwait Central Blood Bank’s recent accomplish-ments, he said it is the only body of its kind in the Arab region to have been recognised globally for apply-ing the standards for reference labo-ratories, blood transfusions, blood donations and genetic laboratories.

For her part, ministry offi cial tasked with blood transfusions Reem Al-Radwan said donation awareness should be encouraged on the individual as well as public levels.

On the individual level, she urged the public to commit to the regu-

lar donation process set up by the ministry and encourage family and friends to step forward and follow suit.

For its part, she said that the ministry should back the develop-ment of transfusion services and acknowledge the role of donors, by organising activities that encour-age the deed, through campaigns or the creation of services that cater to their needs.

World Blood Donor Day is cele-brated annually on June 14 to “thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood,” ac-cording to the offi cial website of the World Health Organisation.

A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION

DIWANIYAArab Gulf countries will be left as spectators

Need to solidly encounter Iranian greed“IT LOOKS like the current blunders of the United States of America and its manipulative policy will thrust the re-gion into an incinerator and we will have to pay a high price because danger is written on the horizon,” column-ist Abdulmohsen Jumah wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“The same is also applicable to Iran because the lat-ter by playing its part has pushed itself on the edge of catastrophe, while Tehran currently attempts to probe the extent of its opportunities, because Iran for the past forty years has been betting on its effectiveness and currently dominating four Arab capitals, or rather actually ruling these capitals.

“This happens, while it appears as the US in handing over Arab countries to Iran one by one. Not just that, America and Iran are currently playing a game whose that is engineered in advance to serve the American econ-omy and this has become crystal clear because we see the signing of weapons sale deals and guaranteeing Israel’s superior-ity through the destruction of the Sunni majority.

“In this connection, we say Washington was quite aware through the threats that were be-ing issued from time to time by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that the imposition of the suffo-cating sanctions on Tehran would threaten the international passage for oil transportation topped by the Straits of Hormuz Strait, and in spite of that Washington had done nothing to secure this passage although plans should have been set up prior to the imposition of the sanctions in question and this of course signifi es the stupidity of the US administration or the White House had intentionally decided not to act, but it is needless to say this American behavior amounts to manipulation of the region’s security and security of Washington itself in this part of the world.

“As a matter of fact, the US President Donald Trump harbors grudge against both the Muslims and Arabs and this had become evident from the very beginning of his election campaign when he asked the Arab and Muslim allies to pay royalties and immediately after occupying the White House started putting very diffi cult conditions which contravened the human rights when it came to granting visas to the Arabs and Muslims.

“Meanwhile, we say Trump will not care if the region is burning because he will ask for trillions of dollars to rebuild and rehabilitate this part of the world and will dominate the Gulf Investment Funds for rebuilding and rehabilitation.

“Given the above, we would like to appeal to the con-cerned powers in the region and ask them not to believe in the pledges given by President Trump and his National Security Advisor John Bolton because Bolton is known to have manipulated the Lebanese affairs in collaboration with the then US Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffery Felt-man following the assassination of the Lebanese prime minister Rafi k Al-Hariri.

“Not only that, when Hezbollah occupied Beirut on May 7, 2008, both John Bolton and Jeffery Feltman left the Lebanese Powers to their fate on March 14, closed their telephonic lines and left Beirut.

“Meanwhile, we say the Iranian regime realizes that its existence is in imperative need for the interests of both America and Israel, as such, this regime carried out the orders that were issued to it to tear apart both Syria and Iraq in addition to the Islamic ranks through some sectar-ian practices.

“In the meantime, this regime realizes at the moment that both Washington and Tel Aviv are currently striv-ing to curb it, simply because it has performed the tasks. Such being the case, this regime is currently striving to play with both Washington and Tel Aviv ‘The Russian Roulette’ until the last bullet is fi red.

“However, the Iranians are likely to retreat or may be the ‘holy’ war will erupt – the war which Ali Khamenei their spiritual leader who is in his 80s is not afraid of, lest to say may be he is looking forward to witness this war before he ‘departs’.

“On the other hand, we would like to point out that it looks illogical to see a superpower like America taking some dangerous decisions such as the imposition of suf-focating sanctions on a big state like Iran without setting up the necessary plans that might be required to secure both the region and the international navigation in this part of the world.

“However, may be Washington, didn’t setup the re-quired plans intentionally, because it no longer needs the Gulf since it has become self-suffi cient in this connection because of both the American shale oil and the Canadian sand oil, and as such, may be the burning of the Arabian Gulf region is aimed at depriving Europe and China of oil supplies.

“In other words, burning of the regions may constitute an American message to both Europe and China, indicating that America which is currently dominating the internal maritime passage ways currently breathes free air in the world, hence the Arab Gulf counties will be left as spectators to watch the horror movie in the next few days or weeks.”

Also:“The Arabian Gulf region is on tenterhooks because of

the messages coming from Iran although these messages apparently look like strong, in fact, they actually refl ect a state of panic which prevail in the area at the moment and this is evidenced through many qualitative events in-cluding the sending of drones to bomb oil installations deep inside Saudi Arabia,” columnist Dahem Al-Qahtani wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“Apart from the above, we found how the oil tankers and some other ships were targeted in the Gulf of Oman, and what happened at the new Al-Fujaira port of the Unit-ed Arab Emirates (UAE) since many weeks ago and the event that had been occurred last Thursday against two oil tankers.

“Before that, the Houthis of Yemen had targeted the Abha International Airport in the Kingdom of Saudi Ara-bia which was another Iranian message indicating that any escalation against Iran will be costly without restric-tions.

“Likewise before that we saw how Hassan Nasrallah (the secretary-general of the Lebanese Hezbollah Party) had delivered a meaningless address in this context, but the Iranian message was obvious. In other words, it is Iran that wants to tell the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that ‘we are here, here and here’, as any strike that may target us will not be like a simple excursion.

“The current behavior of Iran which is childish in the region to avert any strike targeting it seems to tell the world that the Iranian regime will no longer abide by the rules of the political game and as such this regime is currently involved in unstudied and dangerous policies which constitute a real danger to international navigation and this means these policies shall hurt the basics of glob-al economy which is based on the freedom of transporting major commodities topped by the crude oil.

“However, all people realize that America follows fi rstly, secondly and thirdly its own interest, as such all of the slogans launched by it shall remain just slogans but it is needless to say that at specifi c phases of struggle its interests are in harmony with that of some specifi c states against a third existing danger.

“Such a case can be perceived at the moment in the situation which currently prevails in the Gulf region. In other words, the Iranian regime will not be reformed and as such this regime is currently involved in a real and per-sistent war against its neighbors – the Arab countries to

such an extent this regime doesn’t conceal its enmity to these countries, let alone it is boasting about this enmity, but by hiding behind an extreme diplomatic language.

“In spite of the above, we suggest that the war is not the solution to deal with the Iranian regime, rather the con-cerned should solidly encounter the Iranian greed which represents a signifi cant measure to curb this cancerous expansion towards the Arab Gulf states.”

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“Kuwait is at an important historical juncture in its effort to catch up with developments in the surrounding countries in terms of economy and technology, especially as Kuwait has all the capabilities and qualifi cation to become a devel-oped country and attract foreign investments,” columnist Hamed Al-Seif wrote for Annahar daily.

“What do we need for a start? The answer to this ques-tion is so diffi cult that it makes the citizen dreams of many things and hopes Kuwait will have a clear cut and defi ned policy in economy, social issues, education, health and culture. The citizen dreams of a cooperative Government and National assembly that exert efforts to achieve ad-vancement and prosperity for citizens. The citizen hopes he will have initiative and an effective private sector that gives priority to public interest rather than personal ones.

“The citizen hopes we will have a Ministry of Econ-omy that is authorized to collect, analyze and provide information and economic data to the decision makers in different offi cial bodies. Such a ministry will review and follow up execution of plans while setting alternative sources of income rather than oil.

“The citizen hopes that education will be given the ut-most concern so that its outputs meet Kuwait’s market needs in the future by imposing strict and important poli-cies and decisions to achieve this target. There will be no place for favoritism that negatively affects the situation of future generations.

“The citizen hopes that Ministry of Commerce will be able to take control of the transforming economy of the country from a socialist state to a real capitalist economy open to the world, while making Kuwait a fi nancial and commercial center in the region. The citizen hopes that Ministry of Commerce will study the technical and legal aspects of existing legislation such as law of the Capital Markets Authority, the law of companies and other rel-evant laws aimed at amending laws to encourage foreign investments and help the state contribute to the interna-tional economy”.

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“With the end of the good and blessed month of Ram-adan (May Allah restore it with goodness and blessing upon the two Arab and Islamic nations), we must to pause to consider some lessons that we hope all have learned from and implemented”, Abdulrahman Al-Awwad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“Among these lessons is the spirit of Ramadan that people who fast experience. It should refl ect on the no-bility when dealing with people and show through good behavior, which we hope will remain throughout the year. May Allah reward all worshippers during Ramadan and other days.

Apart from the above, there is also the initiative of helping others especially poor people and feeling their pain and suffering which prevailed during Ramadan. The initiative of helping others is good, ethical and moral, which we hope will continue throughout the year.”

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“The boldness of corrupt people when they deal with issues is really frightening as they believe they are above the law and cannot be questioned”, columnist, Constitu-tional Expert and the Dean of Kuwait University’s Col-lege of Law Dr Mohammed Abdulmohsen Al-Moqatei wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“Some of them erect fences around plots that are part of state properties and use them like their own properties. Some senior offi cials deal with their positions as though they are running their own private companies without meeting the requirements of their positions. The reason behind this is that those offi cials were appointed in those positions even though they did not have the required qualifi cations.

“We have ministers who occupy their positions based on some sectarian calculations or according to unfair quota. They represent the worst form of ministers. They exercise their infl uence and ministerial powers not for the sake of public service and the interest of the nation but in favor of those who helped them to reach their positions.

“We have a different type of ministers who are brought to the position in order to be used for specifi c tasks in-cluding passing some suspicious deals. Such types of ministers represent a heavy burden for the State and are the reason behind the deterioration of the government’s performance.

“There are similar examples within the National As-sembly. Some MPs know nothing about their position except the privileges they receive. They offer their par-liamentary seats for sale to those who pay more. Their approval or dismissal of laws is linked to the benefi t they or their relatives will receive from such laws. They offer illegal services such as overseas medical treatments for money or personal interests.

“Despite all that I have mentioned, I still believe reform will come. One day, the corrupt will face punishment.”

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“The beautiful thought of American Donald Trump that North Korean President Kim Jong-un is from the Arabs and his roots belong to the tribes of the Arab Pen-insula made him deal with the latter on this basis. Unfor-tunately, it was too late when Trump realized otherwise,” columnist Mohammad Al-Washihi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“The beautiful American wrote to Kim Jong-un de-manding for the transfer of his nuclear weapons to Amer-ica. The latter got angry so he did not attend the luncheon prepared for him.

“Trump’s advisers should have warned him about something very simple, yet very important: ‘The heads of states should not be dealt with as some Arab presidents are dealt with.’ Trump, may God protect him, is light-headed and reckless with limited culture and knowledge, such that he believes the planet consists of Americans, Europeans, Israelis and Arabs only.

“If Trump thought a little, he would have discovered that Kim Jong-un is not Arab. He did not raise the slogan ‘combat terrorism’ to kill his people, yet he kills them without slogans or masks.”

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“We have said before and we still say – It is unfortu-nate that the golden era of the Public Institution for Social Security has passed. The institution has reached a miser-able stage to the extent of using police to call out for peo-ple on the street to go into the institution”, Talal Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“The story begins with the suffering of the retirees who went to the institution in response to an announcement about getting a good loan equivalent to seven-month sala-ries. The obvious question then is – If the institution is not ready to receive such high number of retirees, why make such an announcement and invite them?

“We are not aware of the shortcomings of the institu-tion. We imagined that it is the best service institution in Kuwait, and can complete all the transactions of the visitors, irrespective of their numbers, without complica-tion and without the need to use police service as seen in communist countries.

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb

Jumah

Ahmadi Governor Sheikh Fawaz Khalid with the representatives of Kuwaiti Youth Constituent Assembly for Ahmadi.

Ahmadi Governor hosts Kuwaiti Youth Assembly membersAhmadi Governor Sheikh Fawaz Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah recently received in his offi ce representa-tives of Kuwaiti Youth Constituent Assembly for Ahmadi. The mem-bers who visited the governor in-cluded Hamad Abdullah Al-Jerri,

Khalid Mubarak Al-Ajmi, Abdul-Ra-haman Rashid Al-Azmi, Khadija Salem Al-Refa’e, Sodous Jaber Al-Farsi and Fatmah Turki Al-Enezi.

Sheikh Khalid affi rmed that the recent declaration of the assem-blies for various governorates is

very crucial. He appreciates efforts of the Public Authority for Youth and Ministry of State for Youth Af-fairs for the ability to come out with such a wonderful youth forum. He said the idea exemplifi es commit-ment of the state to the youth.