KUWAIT: The court of cassation yesterday sentenced a Kuwaiti businessman to 30 months in prison over charges of forging some municipality documents so that he could build a 25-floor hotel instead of the licensed 20 floors.

Vehicle stolen
Astronomer Adel Al-Saadoun reported that on stepping out of his vehicle for a few meters to photograph a plant in a residential area, someone stole the vehicle. A case was filed and further investigations are in progress.

Residential project
The resident engineer at the South Abdullah Al-Mubarak residential project site Feras Saleh said that the project is close to other residential areas and it is surrounded by Abdullah Al-Mubarak to the north, the Seventh Ring Road to the west and south and the airport to the east. Saleh added the project includes 3,260 plots of 400 sq m each over a total area of 4,357,000 sq m, including all the needed infrastructure and public facilities. Meanwhile, the deputy resident engineer for quality control Hilal Al-Hilal said that the project was awarded to Turkey's Limak and its local agent with a total value of KD 29 million, which is expected to be concluded in April 2020.

Unqualified engineers
Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Housing Affairs Jenan Bushehri denied appointing 1,400 engineers at the ministry although some of them hold no engineering degrees, others have average qualifications while a third group allegedly hold fake degrees. Responding to a parliamentary inquiry by Deputy Speaker Essa Al-Kandari, Bushehri refuted a report in a local daily, stressing that the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) had not been approached by the ministry of education, Civil Service Commission (CSC) or any other official body in this regard. Bushehri added that all appointments at MPW are done through the CSC, which sends lists of nominees according to the ministry's annual needs.

National labor support
The government referred a bill to the parliament on amending article 14 of law 19/2000 pertaining supporting national labor and encouraging them to work in non-governmental bodies and the incentives given to citizens working for the private sector. According to the amendment, the maximum penalty for citizens unlawfully getting such incentives or provide fake information to do so will be increased to three years and a KD 5,000 fine, including anyone who facilitates this crime.

By A Saleh