IT seems the clock in Kuwait has stopped moving at a certain point, and everything became hostage to those who had the ability to paralyze the country, or rather the hidden deep state that controls the smallest details and continues to shamelessly abuse the country.
There is no doubt that the situation is not normal at all in terms of closing the country deliberately through complex procedures that do not exist in any country in the world. These procedures harm Kuwaitis and expatriates. All that is needed is to have someone with a conscience in the country to take care of this issue, or have a government that is effective and able to make decisions.
Over the past months, voices have turned hoarse from demanding to amend the entry procedures for Kuwaitis and residents. However, no one moved except when the geniuses of the complex electronic applications discovered the trap they had fallen into. They then kindly eased the conditions, or rather carried out a cosmetic surgery on the “Kuwait Mosafer” app. Instead they introduced another ugly application called “Immunity”, which requires everyone who wants to enter the Kuwaiti “Garden of Eden” to register in it for the approval of their vaccination certificates obtained from abroad.
Unfortunately, this new app has become more of a nightmare than “Kuwait Mosafer” for Kuwaitis, Gulf nationals, and expatriates. The approval of vaccination certificates has become next to impossible, as you have to wait a month or two for the “Immunity” app to grant approval. On the other hand, this is done instantly in other Gulf countries.
We heard what the Kuwaiti businessman Issa Behbehani revealed in Al-Rai daily. It can be considered as the best evidence in this regard. He said, “Saudi Arabia accomplishes in three minutes what Kuwait failed in 25 days”.
FYI, there are about 73,000 certificates registered on the Ministry of Health’s website. If each one takes more than a month to be approved, when will we return to normal life? When will the private sector regain its role? Does this sector need more stifling while it groans because of the arbitrariness and confusion in governmental decisions?
The committee concerned with combating COVID-19 crisis did well when it allowed Kuwaitis and Gulf nationals to enter after obtaining a vaccination certificate. However, this remains insufficient step as it is stipulated that a person should receive doses of a vaccine that is approved in Kuwait. So, what about Kuwaitis and residents who received Chinese or Russian vaccines or others in the countries that adopt these vaccines? Will they remain abroad until the beneficiaries of the vaccines and applications deals are satisfied?
Where are the people who can make a difference in all this? Why such insistence on certain vaccines and applications, while all of the Gulf countries, indeed all the countries of the world, began mitigating measures despite the outbreak of the Delta variant of COVID-19 virus. Switzerland, the United States, Britain, Russia, and even India, where this new strain is spreading, have lifted restrictions that allow vaccinated people to enter without specifying the type of vaccine they should have received.
Frankly, what is happening is a crime committed by a parallel hidden deep state that is more powerful than all authorities. It aims at causing a rift between the state and the people. This is a slow killing of the national economy and Kuwait.
Therefore, we hope that His Highness the Prime Minister will carefully read these words and move to stop this farce, if he takes the advice and breaks his silence.
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
