As I waited for my baggage to arrive from the conveyor belt at the Kuwaiti International Airport I engaged myself in a conversation with a young customs officer. From nowhere, a young Pakistani man poked his face between us and asked if the plane from Pakistan had landed. The customs officer replied it will arrive shortly.

Surprised, I asked the young man how he had managed to enter the prohibited zone and with confidence he said the airport manager is my friend. ‘But where is your permission,’ I asked, and he again said I just told you the airport manager is my friend. An ordinary Pakistani enters the restricted area without a gate pass just to receive his wife who was coming from Pakistan. The question is: Why did he not wait outside just like other people including the Kuwaitis who had come to receive their dear ones in the area designated by the authorities?

Curious, I asked him how he managed to know the manager so well and prompt came the reply, ‘I am a barber (hair dresser). Is it reasonable to think that the security people manning the arrival gate are so indifferent so as to allow a Pakistani man to get into the airport to receive his wife upon the orders of the airport manager to the shift supervisor to let the man in?

Did the police take a copy of his Civil ID and give him permission? Even those who enter the VIP hall cannot do so without permission. So how come an ordinary expatriate can enter the restricted area? I am reporting this incident feeling deeply hurt and sad about the condition of the security forces. Some of them are absurd and tamper with the nationality issue, trade in residence permits and you see frivolities everywhere. There are a few people who have patriotic feelings.

Coming back to the airport scenario, two planes landed and one of them was from Lahore in Pakistan.
The immigration area was crowded and instead of doing their job diligently, policemen were seen talking on their cell phones, laughing, cracking jokes with each other, smoking cigarettes, talking to friends and people one by one exited after ‘Entry’ stamped on their passports. Surprisingly some of the passengers went unnoticed and the immigration officers looked carefree did not even bother to see who passes in front of him. Why this kind of scenario on our airport?

Is Kuwait’s security so cheap? Has indifference and irresponsibility reached their limits?  We appeal to the Minister of Interior Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, a former military man before he became minister to issue an order to prevent smoking, ban on the use of mobile phones for officers while on duty and open an investigation into the incident how a (manager’s) barber entered the restricted area on Friday, Feb 26, 2010 at 12:30 am.

At least we should feel jealous about Dubai which has embarrassed the European countries and won the admiration of the world for the utmost accuracy in revealing the identities of the murderers of Al-Mabhouh and maintains its security although visa is available at the airport for all categories of people of all ages unlike our complexities.

We are selling the security of our country for KD 2 for people like the Pakistani barber who cuts the Airport managers hair. I don’t want to compare ourselves with the European countries but our brothers in the GCC who do not compromise when it comes to security matters whether when it comes to the nationality, residence permit or airport security. Any country will face dangers if security and safety is taken lightly and the same goes for issues such as the nationality, residence permit and issue of driving licenses which we sell for a price. Everyone is aware of these things.

Therefore the minister must apply in strict sense the ‘reward and punishment’ principle. The issue at the center is not a policeman or a low-ranking officer, but the senior officers and those who protect them.
Note: I address this point to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. As I came out of the airport, I saw a coffee shop offering shisha. On the other side there was a restaurant selling snacks. Is this a civilized scenario? Why don’t we have separate places for shisha? Who should be blamed if the charcoal in the shisha becomes a cause for fire at the Kuwait International Airport?

e-mail: youssef@yalmubaraki.com

website: www.yalmubrakai.com