In a bid to maintain Kuwait’s beauty, the Kuwait municipality is now imposing a fine of up to KD300 if you’re found drying your clothes on your balcony. This law doesn’t affect me since I don’t hang my clothes on the balcony anyway, but from all the issues we have, this is the one the municipality wants to fix?
How about the overflowing garbage bins in Salmiya? I would think overflowing garbage bins have a bigger impact on visual pollution as well as hygiene when compared to people hanging laundry on their balcony. Like seriously… [Article 1] [Article 2]
Top photo via Arab Times
37 replies on “Drying Clothes on Balconies Now Illegal”
Impose absurd new law. Fine a couple folk. Forget about it. Repeat
Now this laughable. This is skipping straight to grammar while forgetting to learn the basic ABCs. One must start with the base before graduating to acute, finer manners.
What’s ironic here, you have a very obvious grammatical mistake yet, you’re complaining.
And the irony grows exponentially…
Sully accuses Yousef of the proverbial crime of throwing stones in a glass house, when in fact Yousef threw no stones (his grammar is perfectly fine) and it’s actually *Sully* who lobs the most egregious concretion. amiright?
I’d have to agree with Rob, since Sully (in her enthusiasm to retort) had replaced proper grammar with punctuation. Thus, leading to her ironic demise.
The municipality should be ashamed at the garbage situation.
they cant catch expats for garbage bins, but they can catch for drying laundry. If expats leave this country they wont be able to function a day, yet they want to make their lives miserable until they are forced to leave
Money money money… take from the poor and give to the rich. Where is Robin hood when we need him.
Whose the rich person recieving the money?
Ask yourself !!
If that isn’t the hottest burn, then I don’t know what is.
If i knew the answer, then i wouldnt have asked.
I still want to know who is recieving the money.
Let’s find more ways to harass the Expats…
Such a law targets the most impoverished of people. Instead of tackling the dire issues affecting our society, the municipality decides to punish those with wet clothes.
This is another policy to simply harass the expat. It is the unwritten, verbal directive and I’m not making it up.
Remember the time vehicles were impounded for drivers using the mobiles?
https://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/impounds-return-lock-system-hike-kuwaitis-expats-misery/
This is from the article. Literally authorizing harassment.
“They informed that traffic officers have been directed verbally to be more strict in issuing citations to expatriates and force them to hand over their cars or licenses for over one month, while the file will not be unlocked until the period lapses to make them visit the Capital Traffic Department on several occasions.”
I’d like to see them impose fines on something more meaningful, like perhaps on building owners not providing adequate parking for tenants.
Exactly…
“I’d like to see them impose fines on something more meaningful, like perhaps on building owners not providing adequate parking for tenants.”
In that picture where the poor guy is getting fined, look at the state of that building…
Will they fine the building owner for not maintaining Kuwait beauty ?
Building owner is a stinky filthy rich Kuwaiti who don’t care other than his bank account… Or the land has been in court with a system who is so backwards and corrupt it reminds you of a mafia movie.
HEY how dare you insult the mafia comparing them to a kuwaiti
Discrimination based on gender (segregation)
Discrimination based on religion (no rights of worship for selected)
Discrimination based on nationality (blanket visa ban based on nationality)
Discrimination based on financial situation (no visa/driving license if you earn less than specified)
Discrimination based on education (no driving license if no university degree)
Discrimination based on race (newspapers always reporting asian criminals)
you name the type of discrimination and it exists here..
and now discrimination based of on laundry !!!! (that is innovation)
I like this law… should have been imposed years ago. This doesn’t target expats. It’s called being modern. Get a F’in drying machine. Doesn’t cost that much. All washing machines do the drying for you. Stop making Kuwait look ugly.
Doesn’t cost that much? I’m sorry buddy but not all of us make as much as you do. Most Asian laborers in this country make anywhere from 30 – 60KD and have families abroad to take care of. So before you jump in to the rescue, consider those who are less fortunate. Punishing those who leave their clothes to dry is not a sign of modernity.
This doesn’t target expats ?? Do Kuwaitis usually live in apartments first of all?? NO. Can all expats afford a drycleaner ?? No. Some, as stated before, make less than KD100. And theyre supposed to get charged up to KD300 for this nonsense??? Please quit your rubbish and don’t say this doesnt target expats when it does. LOL Bye felicia.
Just look at the picture and tell me if they can afford a drying machine. What a stupid comment.
“Doesn’t cost that much.”
Why don’t you buy dryers for all of these families then?
Ever consider their income, or the fact that they might not have space for a washer/dryer? The fact that most of these people hand-wash their clothes?
Such an ignorant comment. Come out of your bubble.
My husband and I have been looking at apartments. New apartments, even in the new areas (Abu Fatira, Funaitees, Egaila, etc) – very few have place to even PUT a dryer, unless you use a bedroom for a laundry room. Even some ‘maid rooms’ (so many of which are inhumanely small) have narrow doors, so you can’t put a dryer in anyway.
And I would bet that the people drying their clothing on balconies (which a lot of new apartments don’t have anyway) are in tiny, shared apartments, so the space is another issue besides the cost of the dryer to begin with. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them are washing their clothes by hand as well…
LOL MAYBE FOCUS ON INNER BEAUTY FIRST MY DEARS.
This is such an ignorant thing from the Government.
Lack of empathy and also lack of ability to think clearly.
If these people ( poor and cant afford a dryer) do thier landry, where are they supposed to dry it?
Yeah your maids do your laundry, but these guys are poor and have no dryer. What do they do with thier wet laundry? Dry it on thier dinner table?
Very good, more fines please! Look at Singapore, full of fines but a fine city/country.
Stop moaning about discrimination, how come it is manageable in other GCC countries with similar expat situation?!
At the same time are there many things to be desired from the Kuwait Municipality to support and make improvements to city infrastructure.
What other GCC countries are you referring to? UAE, where expats can own property and have their own businesses? Qatar, where expats are not targeted by silly nonsensical rules by the government on a daily basis? Or is it Bahrain, where, for obvious reasons, your citizenship rarely matters on how you’re treated?
Most of the GCC countries have the foresight to MANAGE their land and are cognizant of economic/population growth..unlike Kuwait. Otherwise, we would have seen the roads changed many years ago.. But lets just take licenses away from expats.. much easier right??
Well said, So2al. And I would just add that, before the Kuwait Municipality had decided to impose an enormous fine(drying laundry) to ensure beautification of the country, following the footsteps of UAE; they needed to rectify the overall cleanliness of the streets, apart from fixing the pathetic condition of the roads. Please note that any fine UAE imposes, one can see where it’s used.
Award them as they are contributing to climate control and green world by drying their laundry using natural resources and taking the burden off the ages old electrical grid of this country which always warns of electricity scarcity as summer approaches…
I always wondered why we don’t have any laundromats here, if there were a few of those around in Kuwait i think it would solve a few of these problems.
The cop itself is a joke …so keen on fining the poor expats when he himself looks like a bum, why dont they fine him for not wearing his uniform, thats never happening , his so called birthright to be called a citizen of the country is his blessing,not to worry kick all the expats out of the country and let them survive a day without the expats then ill keep quiet.
Shortly after the liberation, our good friend working with the Gulf Bank informed us the Baladiya doesn’t give a shit about areas such as Salmeya, because traditionally it was considered as being an Iraqi area.
All they really care about is Jabriya, South Surra and Dahiat Abdalla Salem. That is the crux of the matter. To many in this country expat areas are really not worth considering as being part of Kuwait.
Bringing in Eastern European sanitation workers might perhaps work too.
Ranting off topic and this is going to sound incredibly provincial and racist I say the quality of washings and balcony hangings has deteriorated too post the liberation. I still remember rather vividly how clean and spiffy the balcony hangings used to be back in the day of Palestinian monopoly of Kuwait.
When was the last time they made a sensible law. they are trying to run away from their probelms by focusing on the expats, thats all. look at the drainages flooding with Shit all over the place in jaleeb abbasiya areas. there is no probelm about that and perhaps thats the beauty of it maybe. But when someone tries to dry their clothes, they are fined. What have you done to this country oh lawmakers other than just talking. the expats care for this place more than you. you would just enjoy the last drip of benzene and perhaps leave this place once and for all. but you will see expats still here. thts how we are connected here.Hail kuwait and true kuwaitis.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/hdb-racking-up-ideas-on-safer-ways-to-dry-laundry
I dont think Kuwait is more modernized than Singapore. These fucking bastards create rules just to harass the expats and to hide their own dirty asses.