Several MPs yesterday blamed the large number of expatriates for the traffic jams suffocating Kuwaiti roads and proposed stringent measures including raising petrol prices, deporting those committing serious violations and making it difficult for expats to obtain driving licenses. The accusations came during a special one-hour debate on the causes of traffic jams on Kuwait’s roads and plans by the interior ministry to solve the problem that has been increasingly affecting drivers on the roads.
Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah said the Traffic Department has devised a new strategy to find solutions to the problem. The interior ministry made a presentation in which it said that the main reason for traffic bottlenecks is that the entire population of Kuwait is living on only 8 percent of Kuwait’s territory. In the past, traffic officials have said that Kuwait has around 1.7 million registered vehicles on a small area of the country’s territory which witnesses menacing traffic jams, especially early in the morning and in the afternoon.
A number of MPs submitted recommendations to resolve the problem, but the Assembly could not vote them because there was no quorum. It is expected to approve them after two weeks, but they are non-binding to the government. The recommendations call for lifting subisidies on petrol and then sell it to Kuwaitis through ration cards or by presenting their civil IDs while expatriates will pay the full price. The recommendation aims at forcing expats not to use their vehicles all the time. Other recommendations call for deporting expatriate drivers who commit grave accidents, apply stringent conditions for expats to obtain a driving license and raising annual registration fees on vehicles owned by expats.
Read more: http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2013/03/20/mps-blame-expats-for-traffic-jams-want-petrol-price-hiked-assembly-passes-law-to-naturalize-4000-people-in-2013/
AHAHAHAHAHA expats causing traffic! are you effing kidding me?? *facepalm* I am literally pissing myself! lol This is like watching a horrible sitcom.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see a 'cars-per-household' statistic for expats and locals, and how many leisure drivers are local or expat, or what collision rates are for locals and expats. I am so very curious as to what statistics lead to this conclusion... or am I giving them too much credit?
Forget the expat issue for a sec, As a Kuwaiti I would be outraged at the shoddy work of my MP's.
SMH