There’s a rather unpleasant surprise awaiting around 100,000 Kuwaitis beginning today — they can no longer leave the country. According to published reports, the Kuwaitis face a travel ban because they have failed to pay traffic fines, have outstanding fines against them for municipal offences, or have been fined and not paid for commercial-related offences.
Clearly there’s an element of frustration on behalf of Kuwaiti authorities who feel it necessary to take the rather extreme measure of imposing travel bans on those who refuse to pay fines. But is this measure really necessary? The difficulty seems to be that Kuwait is resorting to last-ditch tactics in making sure people pay their legal penalties. But it’s also an admission that other methods of collection do not work. If 100,000 Kuwaitis owe fines, then there’s an issue with collection and with proper administrative procedures. Is traffic policing effective enough? Does the re-registration process for vehicles and owners not include a provision whereby the plates can’t be renewed if fines are owed? Can liens not be issued against property owners? Or business operations can pay fines when licences are renewed or inspected?
