Kuwait gazette marks 65th anniversary

KUWAIT, Dec 10 (KUNA) -- Kuwait Gazette, Kuwait Alyawm, marks its 65th anniversary tomorrow Wednesday as the first government publication which was the nucleus of print media in the North Gulf country.
Late Bader Khaled Al-Bader, who in September 1954 was the Secretary in the Administrative Office at the Information Department, sent a letter to the Director of the Finance Department Khaled Al-Musallam proposing publication of an official gazette.
He proposed this request be referred to the Supreme Executive Committee, which was formed by late Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah on July 19, 1954 with a mandate of establishing the structure of government departments.
This committee grouped Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, current Amir of State of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Ali Al-Sabah, Sheikh Khaled Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Ahmad Abdullatif and Abdullatif Al-Nesf.
Al-Musallam, who liked Al-Bader's proposal, wrote a letter to the Executive Committee on September 12, 1954, and attached the proposal with it. The committee, meeting the next day, referred the letter to Director of Administrative and Financial Affairs of the Information Department.
After a series of meetings over the official gazette, the Executive Committee sent letters to government departments informing them about the imminent publication of the gazette.
The departments, answering a committee request, sent representatives to a special meeting to discuss measures related to publication: Ahmad Al-Sayyed Omar (Finance), Bader Al-Bader (Information), Saud Al-Fozan (Public Works), Talaat Al-Ghusain (Construction Council), Jassem Al-Qatami (Police), Abdullah Al-Nouri (Judiciary), Ahmad Al-Saqqaf (Awqaf), Jassem Al-Anjeri (Port), Abdulaziz Al-Doseri (Customs), Saeed Yaaqoub (Municipality), Khaled Al-Nasrallah (Health) and Yusuf Al-Hassan (Electricity and Water).
Two meetings were held at the Shura Council building on October 26 and 30, 1954, during which the editorial staff were named: Yusuf Al-Hassan, Talaat Al-Ghusain and Bader Al-Bader. The first issue of the gazette, named Kuwait Alyawm, was published on December 11, 1954.
The first issue had only 16 pages. Kuwait Alyawm grew rapidly and the number of pages increased particularly when it published laws approved by government.
Kuwait Alyawm was published every Saturday and sold by 75 fils (1,000 fils make up one Kuwaiti Dinar). Publication continued until November 30, 1956, when day of issue changed to Sunday.
Kuwait Alyawm became an affiliate to Department of Press and Publication, established on December 23, 1955 and chaired by Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
On January 17, 1962, government departments were transformed into ministries and the Department of Press and Publication was renamed as Ministry of Guidance and Information. It was renamed again in 1971 to the Ministry of Information.
Kuwait Alyawm focuses on Amiri Decrees, Ministries' resolutions, tenders and government news.
The gazette suspended publication when Iraq invaded the State of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Suspension lasted for four months.
Publication resumed on December 28, 1990 from Taef, Saudi Arabia, the interim headquarters of Kuwait Government.
The gazette still issued every Sunday and many Kuwaitis follow the government's decisions through this official publication. (end) mad.bs