KUWAIT: The Ministry of Electricity and Water's (MEW) new tariffs, due to be implemented from May 22, aim to encourage rationalization in consumption and not to "collect more duties", MEW's Undersecretary Mohammad Bushehri said yesterday. Bushehri's remarks marked the launch of an awareness campaign in cooperation with the Ministry of Information to rationalize water and electricity use. "The objective of such campaigns is to promote the culture of rationalization among consumers," he said in a statement.

He said the campaign would highlight the best means to rationalize consumption, which would ease the burden on the budget. The National Assembly approved on April 26, 2016 a law that set new water and electricity tariffs. The lawmakers exempted owners of private houses from the hike.

The law stated that tariffs would vary in real estate investment sector depending on consumption, which means the more people consume, the more they will pay. The government and commercial sectors will be charged 25 fils per kilowatt of electricity and KD 4 for every 1,000 imperial water gallons consumed. The industrial and agricultural sectors will be charged 10 fils per kilowatt and KD 2.5 for 1,000 imperial water gallons.

Separately, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh strongly denied social media reports about making citizens pay for the cost of their treatment at Jaber Hospital. She stressed that charges would be 'zero', although payment had been proposed in a bid to provide outstanding medical services.

Sabeeh added that the Cabinet's decision to establish a shareholding company to run the hospital did not include anything about making citizens pay any charges. "It only included a proposal to consider health insurance and the investment authority was assigned to study it," she explained.

By A Saleh, Staff Writer and Agencies