KUWAIT: An Amiri decree was issued on Sunday launching Kuwait Civil Aviation Authority to replace the Civil Aviation Directorate as an independent body that will have full control over the civil aviation sector and related affairs. Chairman of the Authority Sheikh Humoud Mubarak Al-Sabah said the law is in line with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization and other related regional organizations. The new law was issued 65 years after issuing two civil aviation laws that regulate civil aviation and aviation accidents, Sheikh Humoud said.
He added the new law will boost the independence of the civil aviation sector and keep pace with the best international practices in regulating and managing the civil aviation sector. The law will also enable the civil aviation sector to apply the highest international standards toward a safe and sustainable aviation sector, he said. Articles of the new law consider the Chicago Convention, the convention on international civil aviation, its annexes and amendments, and related international and regional agreements, as an integral part of the law. Under the law, the Authority will have full control of all civil airports, landing of aircraft, civil aviation safety and other related affairs.
In the meantime, the interior ministry on Sunday called on thousands of women who were stripped of their Kuwaiti citizenship to speed up procedures to reclaim their original nationality from their embassies. The ministry recalled in a statement that the last date for obtaining their old citizenship or at least starting the procedures for that, is August 31, and threatened those who fail to comply risk losing a number of features given to them by the state after losing their citizenship.
Kuwait has revoked the citizenship of thousands of foreign women who were naturalized after getting married to Kuwaiti husbands. The government said it will provide them with certain advantages like keeping their government jobs, pensions and others if they obtain their original nationality from their embassies. Meanwhile, amendments to the penal code were issued on Sunday stating that officials who obstruct or refuse to apply final court verdicts risk a jail term of up to two years and a fine not exceeding KD 20,000, toughening the penalty against officials who reject to implement court rulings.
