Agility Fire (Re-print from Mark's Blog)
Just found out a huge fire broke out last night at the Agility warehouse. Hopefully no one got hurt since the fire looks huge. I hope my boxes of Coco Puffs are also safe. I took the picture from Bananaq8 where he has a bit more info (but in Arabic). If you work at Agility and have information on this fire or pictures please [Contact Me (Mark)] Update: Here is a video, the fire is HUGE [YouTube]
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I heard through the former-Agility-employee grapevine this morning that it was the 20K - the largest Agility warehouse which formerly contained food supplies going up to the troops in Iraq. Heard that there was limited amounts of food and some furniture that burned. Insurance payout? Hmmmmm.
I'm trying to feel bad for them..... wait.... no, I thought I could do it, but..... nope.... gone.
I think about when I worked there in 2005 and all the hopes that people had for the company; what a terrible all-around waste. Agility was the one company that I worked for in Kuwait that had amazing systems, policies and procedures in place and were handling business like a real global-rate organization. Unfortunately, they didn't follow their own rules and everyone either knew about the corruption that was going on, or played along turning a blind eye. All of that for greed? What a shame.
Thanks, Ms. Sparky, for digging up more on the story and posting it. Thanks also for the shout-out. As of this afternoon, it was still smouldering.
18 January 2011 update
I can't BELIEVE that none of the local newspapers have anything (at least online) about the fire. WTF? Are the editors still invested in Agility in the Kuwait Stock Exchange? Really? Seriously?
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Ms. Sparky had this on her website. It appears that someone is giving the "thumbs-up" sign.
Freaky, eh?... (don't get me started....)
23 January 2011 Update
I drove by there this weekend. This was NOT the 20K where the US military food was formerly stored. 20K is still standing and looks fine. I couldn't see any damage at all from 6th Ring Road.
gee, US Government,
ReplyDeleteYou see we can't take an inventory now......
(any inventory loss now can't be proven)
a fire from the same company that overcharged the us govt millions....
ms sparky take note
Thanks Desert Girl! Please keep us posted on this. This stinks if fraud fraud and more fraud! Insurance fraud, contract fraud, every kind of fraud! When are we going to see Tarek Sultan in an orange jumpsuit!
ReplyDeleteThere was a fire in Shuwaikh this morning too. What was REALLY weird is we were at IKEA and I saw 2 firemen going into the Alghanim store and then when we were leaving there was a fire drill IN IKEA ever heard of that? Then there was a huge air sucking sound throughout the building. Then when we left there was black smoke in Shuwaikh. Now I found out about the Agility fire.
ReplyDeleteGail
Damn woman, I hope i never get in your bad side!
ReplyDeleteSo what happened to the cats? found them yet? I rescued 1 6 months ago, and so far am 200KD down.
I remember when I worked there and got terminated. I think I was #2 in line of about a hundred fired by their HR manager who eventually went to jail briefly for starting his own recruiting company, terminating a lot of high-salary employees, and then recruiting more, pocketing the profit. I told people what I knew. I was threatened. Then, I got fired. Although technically, through the retention of a good lawyer, I resigned.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, I remember people shunning me, "persona non-grata". I tried to warn friends there. But hey, when you are making a great salary and have a seemingly great job, you don't want to hear it.
I'm sure that there are employees there now saying that Agility has been through sooooo much and poor Agility; however some injuries are self-inflicted.
WHERE is Agility's former head of security? He first got his family out of Kuwait, and then he left very quickly. He knew a heck of a lot and he seemed to be very nervous about it.
I have no doubt in my mind about the cause of this fire. None whatsoever.
I posted a comment on Mark's 2:48 blog and he kindly sent me a note saying that he didn't want me to get in trouble for any kind of slader. I appreciate that. It wasn't necessary, however, as it is a matter of public knowledge.
ReplyDeleteEverything that I have said has been publicly documented in the media. Anyone can do a search for "Agility fraud", "Agility overcharging", "Agility Kamal Sultan" (and even "Lt Col Marshall Gutierez") and see what pops up.
The company has historic, documented behavior that leads to the belief that there will be more of the same.
Not sure if I am overly cynical, but when I drove past the fire the other night, the first thing I thought was, "Well there goes any chance or the U.S. government collecting money from Agility."
ReplyDeleteAnd it was still smoldering this morning. That thing burned a long time. Wonder how strenous the "fire fighting efforts" were on that one?
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ReplyDeleteSourprincess - thanks for the heads up.
ReplyDeleteMs Sparky - I have been trying to get in touch with you (URGENT) and your form isn't going through. Would you please drop me an e-mail at amerab@gmail.com? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteClearly this is 100 % Insurance fraud + a lot more to do with US govt. suing them, Do they have anything else dirtier under their sleeves ??
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to just watch and see.
lol ;) no problema. and it's soupprincess, though sourprincess is probably more apt these days :)
ReplyDeleteYou know, after leaving Kuwait, I randomly miss a whole lot of things...just last night, I was standing in over a foot of snow waiting for a bus, and at least 50 of my countrymen drove past uncaring, but the only people who stopped, asked if I wanted a ride because it's blisteringly cold, and seemed to genuinely care, was a sweet Arab couple...I miss that kind of hospitality and wonder if it has gone by the wayside here because of the times, or because I've moved from being a country mouse to being a city mouse...random point to ponder. Relish the warm, familial lifestyle there, I find myself missing it at the oddest times... ;b