Panel reduces fine for not wearing facemask to KD 50

Panel reduces fine for not wearing facemask to KD 50

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: The National Assembly health committee yesterday agreed to reduce fines for not wearing a facemask and abiding by health conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic from KD 100 to KD 50. The reduction came while the committee was studying a government-sponsored law proposing penalties for those who do not comply with health measures during pandemics.

The law must be approved by the Assembly to become effective. A number of lawmakers yesterday strongly criticized measures applied by the civil aviation obliging travelers to register with the Kuwait Mosafer application and the requirement that travelers must have been vaccinated.

MPs Saad Al-Khanfour, head of the Assembly health committee, and Hisham Al-Saleh called for scrapping the application because of the large number of technical problems associated with the app that people must register with to be able to travel out of Kuwait or return to the country. Khanfour said travelers have encountered a number of problems, especially when abroad, including being unable to update the app, failure to respond to questions and even downloading the app to their mobiles.

He said linking the return of citizens to their country with an app that has many technical problems is unacceptable, and accordingly this requirement must