'Municipality only issues licenses for spas, not massage centers'

KUWAIT: Kuwait Municipality only issues licenses for spas and not massage centers, acting director Faisal Al-Juma said. Responding to an inquiry by Municipal Council member Hamdi Al-Azmi concerning the licenses of spas and massage centers in residential buildings, Jumaa explained that the municipality only issues licenses to spas after the commercial license is issued from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry as per the conditions stipulated in ministerial decision number 206/2009, including having the spas on the first and second floors of residential buildings and that the spa's total area is a minimum of 180 square meters.

Jumaa added that ministerial decision number 87/2015 allows spas to build sauna and massage rooms but bans private cabins, conditions the presence of changing rooms, WCs, showers, athletic exercise devices, a sauna room, massage room, jacuzzi, towels, sanitizing devices and materials, special trainers and in case of swimming pools, the pool's water must be filtered, lined with porcelain and a lifeguard must be present. Jumaa noted that if the spa includes a male or female beauty salon, all conditions must be respected and the spa's total area must be at least 240 square meters. He added that municipality inspectors are working 24/7 to monitors spa activities and track down any violations to be legally dealt with.

In other news, Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Fahd Al-Shola gave strict instructions to periodically inspect billboards and ads on main streets including Gulf Road, informed sources at Kuwait Municipality said. The minister asked the municipality's executive body to survey those billboards, remove unlicensed ones and take legal actions against violators, the sources added.

Power saving

The Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) approved power-saving codes in various buildings, said MEW's power conservation efficiency manager Iqbal Al-Tayyar, noting that the new codes will be mandatory prior to applying to connect service to any building. Tayyar explained that the new codes include maximum electricity consumption for illumination and air-conditioning per square meter and using thermal insulation during construction. The new codes also encourage the use of high-efficiency air-conditioning, mandating new government buildings to produce at least 10 percent of the maximum power they need using renewable energy and using less than 1,000 BTU air-conditioners, or water-cooled ones like those used at MEW.

Biometric devices

The Ministry of Education's assistant undersecretary for financial affairs Yousif Al-Najjar announced that the tender of supplying biometric access devices was approved by the fatwa and legislation department, adding that the Central Agency for Public Tenders will be soon contacted, followed by the State Audit Bureau. "The project will most likely be launched by the beginning of the next school year," he underlined. Notably, the project of supplying various public schools with biometric devices for staff access control, time and attendance costs KD 1 million.

By A Saleh