KUWAIT: The Municipality yesterday shut down the locally-developed Qout Market minutes before its opening in the parking lot of Discovery Mall in Kuwait City. Organizers of the market said the Municipality's actions were "arbitrary", adding that they didn't receive any warnings prior to the closure. "To explain, there is no license for outdoor markets in Kuwaiti law. Every year we go to see the head of Kuwait Municipality and have a conversation," said Qout Market founders Budour Al-Qassar and Noaf Hussein in a statement published on social media.

"We have been trying to get the government to add a new license for Saturday markets, and almost succeeded last year with (Minister of Commerce and Industry) Khaled Al-Roudhan. We literally wrote the law. Then they dropped it. So for this year, we wrote our usual letter to the head of Kuwait Municipality and were told as usual they would turn a blind eye," they added.

Municipality Director Ahmad Al-Manfouhi released a statement in which he explained that the decision to close the market came because it "violated municipal bylaws and safety conditions". However, the organizers believe that the decision was personal. "They must have known Manfouhi does not answer his phone on weekends and we would not be able to get through to him," they said in their statement. "They came prepared, and they came on market day instead of the night before to make sure they caused as much damage and humiliation as possible."

The organizers plan to meet Municipality officials today in an attempt to sort the issue out, and if they do, they plan to set up the market again this weekend, they explained. "We fought for six years to make Kuwait a more beautiful place to live and we are not giving up anytime soon," they stressed. "We want this for our country, and we all need it. This is our dream, and we will not give up easily."

Qout Market is one of Kuwait's most popular, well-known, locally created urban markets and has been running for five years, taking place at locations around Kuwait including Murouj, Pearl Marzouk and Al-Shaheed Park. Its sponsors include Zain and Ooredoo. It specifically focuses on encouraging support for local businesses, farmers, entrepreneurs and artisans.