KUWAIT CITY, Oct 22: Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr Yousef Al-Ali says the ministry is not expecting the prices of foodstuff to reduce in the near future, reports Al-Kuwaitiah daily. On the sidelines of the inaugural event of Huawei Technologies Company in Kuwait, he affirmed that there are no shortages of basic commodities in the market. Dr Al-Ali indicated that the decline in the oil prices did not directly affect the prices of foodstuff, assuring that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry will refer to the Public Prosecution, individuals and companies that increase prices excessively.

Meanwhile, according to statistics provided by the Central Statistical Office, the inflation rate in the State of Kuwait increased by 3.8 percent in August 2015 compared to last year. Meanwhile, Assistant Undersecretary for Road Sector at Ministry of Public Works Engineer Ahmad Al- Hessen revealed that the budget allocated for 2016/2017 fiscal year is KD 545.620 million, which is intended for the ongoing and future contracts with supervision agreements, reports Aljarida daily.

ProjectsHe said there are 13 ongoing projects and the tenders of more projects will be floated prior to end of this year such as the projects of Wafra Road, Al-Bida’a and Fifth Ring Road, pedestrian bridges to be constructed in two phases, Nuwaiseeb Road, South Surra Road, Kilometer 6.5 Road, Al- Ghous Road, the first phase of Salmi Road and Buhaith Road. Eng Al-Hessen declared that the first phase of contract no.

259 concerning the upgrade of Salmi Road will conclude soon. He explained that the sector is working in coordination with the supervisory authorities, as a prelude for project signing and execution. The Central Tenders Committee has awarded the contract for KD168 million for the project for constructing the road of 22 kilometers from the Sixth Ring Road to Salmi Road which will link the northern and southern parts of the country.

In another development: Director of the Engineer Department of the Ministry of Education has been referred for investigation for allegedly violating terms and conditions of the maintenance contract and failing to punish the company which had failed to honor the contract, reports Annahar daily. The daily one of terms and conditions of the contract stated the company should provide enough number of technicians to carry out repairs and answer calls in cases of emergency and the company had allegedly violated the contract. The sources added the director violated the contract by giving the company three months grace period.