In the midst of the confusion created by a decision issued by Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, Lieutenant-General Sheikh Faisal Al-Nawaf, to the traffic departments not to conduct any transactions related to the issue of driving licenses of the expatriates and activation of the decision by the General Administration for information systems of the Ministry of Interior, MP Dr Abdullah Al-Tariji said, “Brother Minister of Interior has just informed me, graciously, to stop the implementation of the decision, which shows mismanagement in dealing with the traffic problem,” reports Al-Rai daily.
The decision of the Ministry of Interior to freeze any procedures for driving licenses for expatriates did not last long. Similar to random decisions in the past taken by the government and subsequently retracted, the Minister of Interior Sheikh Thamer Al-Ali issued instructions to freeze the technical committee’s decision to place a “block” on the licenses of all expatriates.
Sources stated that the technical committee is working to end the crisis of stopping the renewal of driving licenses for expatriates who meet the conditions only, the crisis that affected all expats by placing a “block” that prevents renewal, extraction and replacement of lost, is on its way to end,
Those expats whose driving licenses have expired would be received for renewal from Sunday, but according to the applicable conditions based on Ministerial Resolution 5598/2014, which specified some exceptions and conditions for granting licenses. The block will remain on the license on the system, while renewing the license the person concerned will have to submit official papers and documents to confirm the conditions to be granted the driving license, those who don’t meet the conditions license will be withdrawn from him.
Yesterday, instructions were received based on a decision by Al-Nawaf, to the traffic departments not to conduct any transaction for expatriates related to driving licenses. The General Traffic Department of the Ministry of Interior had been given clear instructions by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior Faisal Al-Nawaf to stop renewing the driving licenses of all expatriates, which became effective last week, reports Al-Rai daily.
The daily added, the authorities began the implementation of the decision unannounced about a week ago by blocking access to the automated system for electronic renewal of licenses, and then publicly issuing directives not to entertain renewal of licenses or replacing lost documents until a mechanism is established by the technical committee formed by the concerned authorities. Security sources said the decision includes all residents, even if they meet the conditions for holding a license, as the GTD has stopped receiving renewal and other transactions requests, warning that those whose licenses have expired will face legal problems if they drive with an expired document.
The decision will also affect citizens who hire drivers to work for them or their establishments. The daily added, as of December 26, 2021, the Ministry of Interior will begin withdrawing the driving licenses of expatriates who, the authorities feel are not eligible for a license or rather those who have acquired them illegally by submitting forged documents, through ‘wasta’ or they are no longer being used for the purpose for which they were issued in the first place. The traffic and rescue patrols have been instructed to issue a citation if expatriates are caught driving with an expired license.
Conditions
Meanwhile, the sources pointed out work is being done to link driving licenses with PAM and Residence Affairs Authority and the information systems in the Ministry of Interior, to help immediate verification of eligibility for conditions, the most important of which is the profession, salary and university degree.
In the meantime, Al-Jarida newspaper published a report questioning the right to place a ‘block’ on 247,000 valid driving licenses for expatriates, in preparation for their withdrawal. “Just as we support the law that supports justice in the face of injustice, we say no to any blind law that targets the weak who are unable or does not dare defend themselves,” the daily said.
What the Ministry of Interior seems to have forgotten is that these expatriates have obtained the licenses in ways that the Ministry itself approved, among professions it deemed worthy, and exceptions that were officially approved according to the circumstances of each case, the report added. The daily said, “Yes, we are with the ministry in detecting counterfeiters, regulating traffic and eliminating intermediaries, but we are never with it in the immediate withdrawal of valid licenses from people whose lives are all dependent on them. “All we ask for is a bit of fairness,” the report concluded.
Through its ‘discriminatory’ decision the Ministry of Interior continues to pursue racist solutions to solve the traffic problem despite reminders from several quarters that by its decision to stop the renewal of driving licenses of expatriates or other procedures will confuse all governmental and private sectors in the country and have negative repercussions, the ministry seems unperturbed, reports Al- Jarida daily.
Suspended
The daily says the decision will do more harm than good to the country based on the aforementioned decision, if all licenses due for renewal will be suspended, even if the owner fulfills all requirements, a procedure that includes large numbers of resident licenses, especially after the Ministry of Interior approved limiting license periods to a maximum of two or three years, bearing in mind that the number of licenses registered in the ministry’s computer system is about 715,000.
“We can hardly believe ourselves when we see such behavior in the twenty-first century, after years and years of our dream of transforming Kuwait into a financial center, and our country obtaining the title of a country of humanitarian action, and at a time when we are classified as a Gulf oil country that has the resources to help it overcome these trivialities which is a self-evident service, just like the neighboring countries, which are light years away from us when it comes to such matters,” said the source.
Instead of the ‘Interior’ seeking to draw a strategy between the ministries and the concerned authorities to develop roads, eliminate crowding, expand lanes, build bridges, and search for innovative solutions outside, the decision makers are looking the other way that even the countries of repression did not think of, let alone a country called a center humanitarian action whose humanitarian deeds are seen everywhere.
Expatriates in Kuwait faced a new dilemma related to driver’s licenses issue. The expatriates have now to wait for the procedures to be adopted by the committee to sort out those who are eligible to have the license and who are not. Moreover, the issue will be linked electronically with the concerned government agencies, a crisis that will restrict expatriates, especially those whose licenses have expired to have access to driving licenses, in addition to making them prone to legal problems.
Informed sources have warned that “the decision will cause a new crisis or rather complete paralysis and will affect all sectors including the hospitals and clinics, project engineers in charge of projects and technicians working on government projects in addition to causing huge financial losses and economic paralysis at the private and civil sector levels especially since a majority of workers had obtained driving licenses according to conditions set by the Ministry of Interior, which needs immediate treatment and a quick decision to remedy the risks resulting from taking such instructions. The sources pointed out that “the instructions issued to the directors of traffic departments in the governorates stipulate to start withdrawing licenses from expatriates who obtained them illegally, starting from the 26th of this month, after the completion of the automated link between the Manpower and Residence Affairs Authority and the information systems in the Ministry of Interior.
The sources said, “The committee is continuing to address the defect and end the problem of traffic congestion in the country, by reorganizing the granting of driving licenses to those who meet the conditions. Those who do not meet the conditions will have a block placed on the license and withdrawn, and violators will be expelled from the country.” The sources stated “this decision, which was taken to control traffic congestion and to tighten the issue of driving licenses, has faced a lot of criticism, as it is illogical to implement a regulatory decision that causes harm to expatriates and some citizens who have drivers at home who drive children to schools.”
Ministerial Resolution No. 5598/2014 issued on Nov 25, 2014 states that a non-Kuwaiti applicant for a private or public driving license:
1 – Must have obtained a legal residence permit in the country for at least two years.
2 – His monthly salary should not be less than 600 dinars.
3 – Must have a university degree.
Exception for all conditions
1 – The Kuwaiti wife and his foreign widow or his foreign divorcee and has children from him.
2 – The husbands of Kuwaiti women and their children who are foreigners.
3 – Illegal residents holding valid security cards.
4 – Students enrolled in a university or an applied institute inside Kuwait.
5 – Members of diplomatic corps.
6 – Professional players in sports clubs and federations in government agencies.
7 – Drivers and delegates (general delegate, passports and affairs delegate) and they have valid licenses.
8 – Servant, working for the sponsor for a period of no less than 5 years, provided that the profession is changed to a driver.
9 – Technicians specialized in oil fields in oil companies.
10 – Pilots, captains and their assistants.
11 – Nurses, physiotherapists and technicians of medical professions.
12 – Washers of the dead.
13 – Housewives if they have children and their spouses from the following categories — the judiciary, members of the Public Prosecution Office, advisors and experts; faculty members in universities and institutes; doctors and pharmacists; general managers and their assistants.
Categories excluded from ‘residence’ and ‘salary cap’
1 – Judges, members of the Public Prosecution Office and advisors.
2 – Faculty members in universities and applied institutes.
3 – Journalists and media professionals.
4 – Doctors and pharmacists.
5- Researchers of all their names, jurists, translators, librarians and imams of mosques working in government agencies.
6 – Teachers, social workers and engineers.
7 – Sports coaches working in sports federations and clubs in government agencies.
However, the driver’s or representative’s license is canceled when residence permit expires or change in profession. A new license is not granted until after two years and with new procedures. The license is canceled when changing the profession to a profession not covered by the decision. All driving licenses issued to non- Kuwaitis are valid according to the length of stay./KT
