Category: Kuwait

The Ministry of Interior have updated their eServices platform and I think it looks great! The new site is smoother and faster than the previous version and also works really well on mobile devices. Check it out here.

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Below is another interesting story by John Beresford who used to live in Kuwait back in the 50s and 60s. This time it’s about The Burgan Blowout which I hadn’t heard about until I read his story. It’s a bit long but if you like old stuff related to Kuwait you’ll find it interesting.

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I am sure that there are quite a few people reading this who were in Kuwait after the Iraqis were driven out during the first Gulf War and who experienced the nightmare of the destruction of the oilfields when the Iraqis blew up so many oil wells. I don’t know what that was like, the pollution, the burning, I don’t know if the ground trembled and if people heard a constant moan which, on getting closer, became a roar. But I did experience Burgan Well 331 and as far as I can remember, these are my memories.

The Kuwaiti was the weekly magazine for KOC employees, printed in English and Arabic. The photo on the cover states that the relief well was drilled from a point 1526 feet away from the blowout – approx. 500m. Drilling from there they had to hit a pipe that was 9” wide and hopes that they could pump drilling mud down it to block the well. From the angle of the picture, I think you just do not get any idea of how big or powerful the flame was, but then I was only about 10 ½ years old and I had never experienced anything like this so I might be exaggerating.

To try and put the flames out they needed water, so a pipeline was built, working 24/7, to bring seawater to the well site. I don’t remember if it was 48” pipe or 36”, laid across the desert with every available person and piece of equipment on the job, and it was built in about 1 week. I am sure my father said that it was a week, or just over. Everything was thrown at getting this done. It was a lot of pipes but the steel could be transported flat on trucks and ‘spun’ (spirally welded) as it was laid, which made everything easier. The bulldozers went ahead and flattened the desert and scraped a track alongside which was graded and then the machines came along to build the pipeline.

I remember that at night the horizon was bright with the light of the flame. We lived in Ahmadi at 44/14th Avenue – I don’t know how far away Burgan was, but of course, us kids had to see if we could read by the light of the flame – we could, although at that age our eyes were a lot better than they are now and maybe we could have read by moonlight anyway. And we thought we could hear something, a type of low moan.

The well fire was big, but once the process started to put it out, it became the biggest tourist attraction in the whole of Kuwait and so a plan was put into place to let the public come and see it, but in a controlled manner, so that it was safe and so that no one got in the way. So one evening we got into the car (a little Ford Anglia, same as the car Harry Potter goes flying about in) and drove off to Burgan, and we found ourselves in a bit of a convoy. With my brother and sister I was excited, my mother less so. The red horizon stirred in her memories of 14-15 November 1940, when Coventry had been bombed and the old heart of the city completely destroyed by fire. She was a student nurse in Nottingham and was fire watching that night – she was on the roof of the hospital, with buckets of sand and water and a little pump, to look out for incendiary bombs that might land there and to try and put their flames out before they really got going. If it looked bad she had to raise the alarm. It sounds dangerous but she always maintained that the most dangerous part of it was not falling off the roof! Anyway, she had had a grandstand view of the horizon towards Coventry and saw it light up and just keep on burning, and she said that the well fire reminded her of that night. The destruction was so complete that the Germans coined a new word ‘coventrieren’ meaning to completely destroy a city.

As we drove on the moan became louder and dad asked if we could feel anything; the car felt odd. In fact, the force of the gas coming up, uncontrolled, through the well piping was causing the ground to vibrate and we were starting to feel this through about 5 miles away from the burning blowout. I thought we parked 5 miles away and walked to about 3 miles distance away but now I don’t think that was so, from the silhouette of the oil rig you can tell it is not 5 miles away. I am not sure if it is the relief rig that was about 500m away from the fire as there were quite a few rigs in the area anyway. We got out of the car and it was warm. Kuwait is always going to be warm by most people’s standards, but take away the climate and how we had felt when we went out to get into the car, and now it was warm. And we could feel the vibration through our shoes, into our legs, not big movements, not lurching ones as in an earthquake, but a constant vibration which, while it did not unbalance anyone, did feel odd.

We were grouped and taken to a viewing location, which was nearer. As we got closer the vibrating grew, the sound got louder and we had to speak more loudly, almost shouting, and the temperature increased to a level that was unpleasant. Our skin facing the flames got quite warm. The power coming out of the earth was extremely impressive and it was only one well, one 9” diameter hole, blown out. How many were burning after the 1st Gulf War? All the destruction must have been a scene from hell.

We then got rounded up, counted, and led back to our cars, we got into them, drove back home and our adventure was over. We did manage to take a few photographs and I attach 2 of them. The camera was an old, fold-out, bellows camera with no telescopic lens. I think these 2 pics were taken from the car park as in the originals I can just make out some vehicles. I have another picture that is comprised of 2 photos, a top and a bottom that actually do fit together – if I could find them I would post them – but they produce an image which is about twice the size of these, so I guess they were taken from the viewing area. Basically the same image, but bigger.

At this time I was back in Kuwait with my parents because it was the Christmas holidays. At the age of 9 years old I had been sent back to the UK to go to boarding school. The logic was that as dad was going to be working overseas, and because the KOC school – the Anglo American School – only took children up to the age of 13, I would have to go to boarding school when young in order to get taught for the Common Entrance exam which I needed to pass at the age of 13 to get to Public School (the English term for a private school that took children as borders until they were 18 and had done their exams to get to university. There were just about no State-run boarding schools back then). And at the time there might have been 1 school in Kuwait Town that took children up to 18 or so but it wasn’t clear if their exams would count towards a UK university entrance so boarding school at 9 it had to be. This meant that after the holidays I had to fly back to London in order to go back to school.

So, whatever day it was that I flew back, my parents took me to the airport, which was on the site of the Kuwait International Airport is now (I think) but it was the original one in that location before any updated version was built. Parents were allowed to sit with their children in the departure lounge until the flight was called. And as we were sitting there my father said ‘John, look over there’ and sitting with some companions was Red Adair himself, the guy who had been called in to put out the well fire. He was wearing a long-sleeved cotton shirt, collar unbuttoned, his trousers were over his cowboy boots and dad said ‘Look at him, see, he’s missing part of a finger’. And I looked, and yes, there was the end of a digit missing. In fact, there seemed to be several bits missing, there were assorted small scars, burn scars, I think there was a bit of an ear missing, he moved a bit differently to most people because he kept running into flames and heat and played with explosives but he must have had a good idea what he was doing because he was still alive. Several children went up to him and asked for his autograph, which he graciously gave to them, and he chatted to them even though he had such a tough reputation as someone who could not be killed. He allegedly earned a fantastic amount of money and his contract said that any oil company that called him in had to supply the equipment he wanted and after the job, he got to keep it and the oil company would store it for him until he needed it again. But basically, for KOC, it was a form of insurance. He and his team put their lives on the line to put out fires. Thank God they did!

Interesting Fact: Red Adair was brought back to Kuwait 26 years later in 1991 after the Iraqi invasion to cap the burning oil wells.

In 1991 Adair was asked to help cap the oil fires set by Iraqi troops fleeing Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War. Although it was thought that controlling these fires would take years to accomplish, Adair’s team capped 117 wells and aided other teams in completing the job in eight months. Adair retired from firefighting in 1994. Source

Note: Scans of The Kuwaiti magazine taken by SJM Banfield (if anyone knows him let me know!)

Update: Here is a photo of the Blowout taken from the Tarek Rajab Museum archives.

A friend recently shared an instagram account with me that contained a lot of cool old photos of Kuwait, many which I hadn’t seen before. The account is called @badshaiji and the guy doesn’t mention the source of the photos, but I don’t think they’re his since I’ve seen a few in other places. I also think he converts a lot of colored photos to black and white for aesthetic reasons.

From all the photos on his account, three stuck out for me. The two above are from 1969 and of seaside casinos (basically coffee shops or social clubs not gambling casinos) that were located in Salmiya on Blajat street. I had never seen these before nor did I know they had existed. The third photo below is of a music shop on Fahad Al Salem street dated 1961. If you want to check out a lot more photos like this then check out the Instagram account @badshaiji

This is really sad.

via @MohammadKAlJass

Because there are fewer people on the roads and fewer factories working right now, the air quality in Kuwait has to be the best I’ve ever seen compared to 358 “Hazardous” which was the highest I’ve seen it reach. Source

I was talking to my friends in Dubai on Thursday letting them know what was going on in Kuwait and to my surprise, life was still normal over there. People were still going to work, going out drinking and partying, going to the gym as if there wasn’t a global pandemic.

It made me realize how on top of things Kuwait is right now. We were one of the first countries to shut down schools, we were given a public holiday not because we have an emergency but because they were being proactive in avoiding an emergency. Over the weekend cops were blocking off access to the beach so people don’t end up hanging out there and last night they announced the closure of malls and hair salons.

Things aren’t perfect for sure, but I can’t think of any other country I’d rather be in right now during this pandemic.

If you’re looking to get away from the city for a weekend (or more), there is a company in Kuwait called RV Way that rent out (and sell) RV’s. They’re actually the goto guys for everything RV related not just the caravans, but everything else you also might need for camping with an RV. Their RV rentals start from KD 90 and you can get more information by visiting their instagram account @rv4way or their their location in Qurain.

via @wadaniart

Last May, I was lucky enough to be invited on a private tour of the new Al Salam Palace Museum which was recently restored. The museum was expected to open end of last year but I guess due to some delays it just opened now.

Al Salam Palace was built in the late 1950s and was used to accommodate visiting heads of state. During the 1990 invasion, the palace was completely destroyed and stayed abandoned for years until the restoration project started back in 2013 to turn it into a museum. The palace is located right next to JACC and consists of three main museums:

Museum of Kuwait’s History through its Rulers
Museum of Al Salam Palace History
Museum of the Civilizations that inhabited Kuwait

You can only get a tour of the museum and there are two kinds right now:

Standard Tour (English or Arabic)
Duration: 120 minutes
Cost: KD8

VIP Tour (Arabic)
Duration: 60-120 minutes
Cost: KD20

The Al Salam Palace website is up right now with more information and booking options, you can check it out at aspm.com.kw. You can also follow them on isntagram @aspm.kw

The ice skating rink which has been around since 1980 will be closing down tomorrow to get demolished. In its place I’ve been told they’ll be building a concert hall which will be used to hold the Hala February concerts.

It doesn’t make sense I know, and whats worse is that I don’t understand why they can’t just keep the ice skating structure and just turn the interior into a concert hall. In any case, the decision has been made and this historical site will be demolished in the same way many other significant structures have been demolished in the past.

Today (Monday) from 4PM to 6PM there will be a last skate at the ice skating rink as a way of protesting this decision. So if you want to experience the ice skating rink for one last time this is your chance. See you there.

I’m not sure why this isn’t made a bigger deal of but one thing that really bothers me is how Kuwaitis are discriminated against when it comes to renting apartments. It’s one area where expats have it much better and I don’t understand why no one seems to be protesting this. It just doesn’t make any sense how everyone seems to be ok with ads advertising homes and then having a large note stating its “Only for foreigners” on it. How is this even legal?

I’ve had a lot of friends struggle to find apartments because they were either single male or female Kuwaitis. There is a post on Reddit right now by a Kuwaiti guy who had to leave home due to family issues and ended up living in his car because he couldn’t find an apartment that would rent to him. Eventually, he managed to crash at a friend’s place for a couple of months but now he needs to move out and he still can’t find a place that would rent to him.

salam people of r/Kuwait. some of you may have seen my post slightly less than 3 months ago about how i am homeless due to family issues and could not find a place that would rent for a single Kuwaiti male. i wish they would trust me because i am a nerdy guy whose day only consists of going to work and playing video games so i never have anyone over. i am very responsible with spending so inshallah i would never be late for monthly rent payments unless a great emergency occurs.

some compassionate people have messaged me either offering emotional support or offering to help me find a residence to rent. i was planning on accepting one of those offers after getting my salary but a chance for free stay came up and i took it. i am sorry for ghosting on those who offered me help but i felt too awkward to tell them that i didnt need it anymore (rude and stupid of me).

now unfortunately i have stayed more than was comfortable (2.5 months) for the friend who provided me with free stay. i need to find a place of my own before Friday otherwise i will have to sell most of my stuff and go back to sleeping in my car. it will make me so happy to find a clean place where i can sleep comfortably without hearing shouting all day and without worrying whether i will be told to leave the next day. source

It’s pretty absurd that a single guy who has a job and the ability to pay rent is forced to sell his belongings and live in a car because he is Kuwaiti and can’t find an apartment to rent. I’m not sure if it’s because a lot of Kuwaitis aren’t aware of this housing issue and that’s why it’s not a big deal, but if I was Kuwaiti I’d be calling up MP Safa Al Hashem daily to get this changed.

A bunch of these new enclosed pedestrian bridges have popped up around Kuwait and although they had been completed for some time, they remained closed and non-operational until recently.

There isn’t really much to see inside, instead of regular stairs you have escalators to take you up and down and the bridge is air conditioning for the summer.

I’m not really sure why we need air-conditioned bridges since if I’m using it in the summmer, it’s because I got there walking in the heat in the first place. I guess a cool down area or maybe to entice people to use it instead of crossing the street under the bridge? Not sure…

Has anyone tried reporting traffic violations to the General Traffic Department using WhatsApp? The screenshots above got forwarded to one of my groups and it shows a person reporting a car parked illegally to the traffic department and then getting a response back an hour later showing the person was ticketed.

I tried the service a few days ago and I didn’t get any response back so no idea if an action was taken or not so can’t verify this whole thing works. But, you can try it yourself, the WhatsApp number to report violations is 99324092‬. If you’ve tried this before and it’s worked, let me know in the comments.

One of the writers for the publication The Points Guy UK came to Kuwait to see if it was one of the most boring tourist destinations in the world. Instead, he found Kuwait interesting even though based on his article he didn’t really venture out much outside the city. Check out his article here.

Thanks K