JEDDAH: Kuwait’s Minster of Public Works Hussam Al-Roumi resigned on Friday after flooding across the country.
Al-Roumi expressed his “deep regret” over the severe damage to private property caused by the latest heavy rains.
Rain lashed Kuwait on Thursday and Friday. Footage posted on social media from across Kuwait showed torrents sweeping away cars as sewage systems failed to drain the heavy downpour.
“Based on my moral responsibility and in support of the approach taken by His Highness the Prime Minister to bear the consequences of the government’s heavy responsibility, I submitted my resignation to the National Assembly Speaker,” he added.
The army and national guard were mobilized to help clear water from critical facilities and roadways and the Kuwait Oil Company announced a state of emergency, state news agency KUNA reported.
The national guard announced on Friday that it was upgrading the weather conditions to “extreme” due to bad weather and ordered units to be on a heightened state of alert.
The meteorological department of Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation reported that the country has received almost 30 millimeters since Thursday evening, a significantly high amount for Kuwait in a 24-hour span. It forecast unstable weather conditions and moderate to heavy scattered thunderous rains, expected to run until Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, Kuwait University announced it will close its campus and cancel exams scheduled for Saturday.
Following instructions from the Dean of the University Dr. Hussein Al-Ansari, and Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Hamed Al-Azmi, the campus will be closed due to weather conditions engulfing the country, the university’s spokesman Dr. Muthana Al-Refaie said in a press statement.
Exams scheduled on Saturday were canceled and will be held later on after the weather conditions improve, he added.
The Ministry of Interior urged both citizens and expatriates to be extra cautious over the next couple of days.
The national guard announced earlier on Friday the formation of six technical emergency teams to follow up efforts to support the relevant government agencies to address the effects of rainfall and water floods to ensure smooth traffic on the roads and to respond to any emergencies in accordance with the objectives of the country’s 2020 strategic vision, which stresses security first.
The prime minister confirmed that the government is following the situation closely in all regions and all ministers have been asked to take the necessary measures in order to maintain safety and minimize damage. He also stressed that those who fail to perform their duties will be held accountable.
Kuwait, along with several other countries in the region, has experienced unstable weather conditions with several areas flooded due to the heavy rainfall over the last week.
Kuwait’s public works minister resigns amid severe flooding
Kuwait’s public works minister resigns amid severe flooding
Turkiye ‘deeply disturbed’ over Israel-US strikes, Iran attacks on Gulf
- “We are deeply disturbed over the US-Israel attacks on our neighbor Iran,” Erdogan said
- “In order to prevent our region from experiencing greater suffering, all actors, especially the Islamic world, must take action“
ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday he was “deeply disturbed” by the Israeli-US attacks on Iran, but also condemned Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on the Gulf, demanding action to end the conflict.
The confrontation began earlier on Saturday with the Israeli and US strikes and quickly broadened regionally as Tehran retaliated against Gulf states and Israel.
“We are deeply disturbed over the US-Israel attacks on our neighbor Iran,” Erdogan said in a televised address, in which he also denounced Iran’s drone and missile attacks against the Gulf as “unacceptable, regardless of the reason.”
“In order to prevent our region from experiencing greater suffering, all actors, especially the Islamic world, must take action,” he added.
Turkiye had “worked hard for a long time to resolve the conflicts at the negotiating table... but the trust deficit between the parties could not be overcome,” he said, vowing to “accelerate Turkiye’s diplomatic efforts” to bring the parties back to the table.
Earlier Saturday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi and six other top diplomats about ways to “end the attacks,” a foreign ministry source said.
Erdogan also said Turkiye had not seen any problem “in terms of border security” along the 500-kilometer (300-mile) frontier it shares with Iran.
“The police, gendarmerie and intelligence services are taking all necessary measures,” he said.
Earlier, Turkiye’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci also held calls with his Azerbaijani counterpart Vilayet Eyvazov and Iraq’s Interior Minister Abdul?Amir al?Shammari on “strengthening areas of cooperation,” the ministry wrote on X.
All three countries share a border with Iran.
Iran’s neighbors have long feared that a new round of strikes on the country could destabilize the entire region, with concerns focused on a possible influx of refugees.
Turkiye currently hosts more than 74,000 Iranians with residence permits and some 5,000 refugees.
