Those who know no punishment will misbehave … Traffic

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Bad conditions follow us wherever we turn our faces.

It is sufficient to observe the behavior, actions and statements of the MPs using the microphones and in the musical chairs of the National Assembly.

On the other hand, many officials assume high positions in the state’s ministries, bodies and institutions through nepotism, meaning without experience or courage to make decisions and act in an acceptable manner.

For example, look at many of the leaders of the oil sector, the Public Authority for Roads and Transportation, personnel affairs sectors and the rest of the bodies and institutions that are countless in number. One will not find any tangible work there except spending money.

Today I will talk about an official body that we, as citizens and residents, come in contact with every day when we leave our homes. It is the General Traffic Department. As we see in our streets, it has recently joined the government “Scarecrow” groups.

We have been living in this country since the time we opened our eyes to the world, but we have not witnessed the level of street chaos and traffic violations like the kind we see these days. Neither the young citizens, the owners and drivers of huge cars with annoying noises, nor the expatriates who drive cars that seem almost invisible to the naked eye, abide by the speed limits. The expatriates see Kuwaitis violating the law openly in broad daylight and so they follow their example.

The lights of many cars at night are off, endangering the lives of innocent people, but none of the traffic or police officers stop them to issue a traffic citation or at least a warning to fix the lights. The law that stipulates penalties for those who do not abide by the rules and ignore the signs of “STOP” and “NO PARKING” has become a relic of the past.

The new major disaster is the preoccupation of car drivers – both women and men especially the young ones, with their mobile phones while they are driving in crowded public roads. This is because no one is deterring them. Some patrol officers who stand at the intersection of highways can also be seen tampering with these damned phones because no one told them that their job is to monitor the intersections and streets and punish violators, and not tamper with their mobile phones just like Kuwaiti teenagers who have recently been imitated by the expatriates, especially the thousands of drivers of taxis that are cheap in form and value, and disrespect the laws of the country that have not yet been applied.

With these words, we do not accuse a specific person in the Ministry of Interior and others, but we direct it to ourselves because we did not ask the decision makers – neither the government nor the parliament – to be strict in implementing those laws to which our lives and the lives of our children, wives, parents, relatives, friends and those who are dear to us are linked because many of our public road users know there is no punishment when they violate the law, because of which they misbehave.

There is no strength except in Allah Almighty.

Email: [email protected]

By Ali Ahmed Al-Baghli

Former Minister of Oil

This news has been read 104851 times!