KUWAIT: Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef Al-Sabah issued a decision on Sunday introducing for the first time alternative community services to replace prison terms for certain traffic offenses.
The decision was published in the official gazette Kuwait Al-Youm and accordingly is effective as of today.
The decision names 16 ministries and government departments where judges will ask convicts in traffic offenses to do free community service instead of serving time in prison.
These include ministries of interior, health, education, social affairs, Islamic affairs, electricity and water, public works, oil and commerce and industry. They also include a number of government departments like Kuwait Municipality, Environment Public Agency, Public Authority of Manpower, Public Authority for Agriculture and Fish Resources and Public Authority for roads and transportation.
Alternative community services will include mosques and beaches and working at gas stations, in addition to participating in traffic awareness campaigns, civil defense, health services and others.
At the social affairs ministry, convicts will help in distributing aid or work at cooperative societies, while at the ministry of electricity and water they will help in documenting electricity meters data.
At the Environment Public Authority, convicts could clean beaches, remove trash or plant trees, while at the Public Authority for Agriculture they will help in cleaning public gardens and plant trees there.
If the accident results in damage, convicts are required to either repair the damage themselves or pay compensation.
Kuwait implemented a new tougher traffic law in April this year stipulating harsher penalties which include jail terms in a series of dangerous accidents, in addition to significantly increasing fines.
In the first four months of implementation, almost all types of traffic offenses have dropped sharply, particularly deaths resulting from traffic mishaps and serious offenses like breaking the red traffic light, speeding and using mobile phones while driving.
