Ministry denies 'delayed payment of egg suppliers' reports

KUWAIT: Kuwait Municipality Director Ahmad Al-Manfouhi said that new land plots had been allocated as alternative ones for those utilizing land plots intercepting the projected railway route. In a letter he sent to the cabinet's secretary general concerning the obstacles along the northern road projects and the railway route, Manfouhi explained that the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources was contacted concerning the farmlands along the route, while the Ministry of Social Affairs was contacted concerning relocating Abdali agricultural co-operative society to an alternative location. Further, Manfouhi added that obstacles along the southern regional highway had been removed and that construction on the highway could commence.

Due payments
The Ministry of Social Affairs denied delaying the payment of financial dues to the suppliers of eggs in various co-op societies. In this regard, the ministry's assistant undersecretary for cooperation and the ministry's official spokesperson Abdul Aziz Showaib stressed that the ministry always urges various co-ops to pay suppliers' dues regularly, adding that various co-ops had been fully cooperating in this regard. He also denied that overdue payments were behind the egg shortage.

Smart meters
The Central Agency for Public Tenders set March 17 as the deadline for companies applying to supply 200,000 smart electricity meters and 100,000 smart water meters to file in their biddings, said informed sources. After receiving the biddings, the agency will refer them to the Ministry of Electricity and Water for technical studies before deciding on the best bidding offer, the sources added. Separately, the sources said that the total cost of fuels and oils used by power and water desalination plants in the period from of April 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019 was KD 1,276 billion.

Employees' absence
Well-informed sources at the Civil Service Commission (CSC) denied using any new measures concerning pre and post official vacation leaves. The sources added that leaves are usually endorsed by employees' direct superiors in charge in every government body. Further, the sources said that sick leaves have to be approved by the Ministry of Health (MOH) through automated connection with CSC, which also checks the validity of all sick leaves issued by private hospitals. The sources added that all state departments had been instructed not to accept sick leaves issued by private hospitals after two weeks from their issuance, adding that CSC tends to reduce that period to match those issued by public hospitals, which are rejected after a few days since issuance. Commenting on the large percentage of employees' absence in various government bodies after the national holidays, the sources warned that those absent without due excuse would be subject to disciplinary measures as per CSC regulations and laws.

No exemption
The Ministry of Public Works' official spokesperson Eman Al-Omar denied a local daily report allegding that the ministry intends to exempt three categories of its employees from using the biometric access control system. Omar explained that according to CSC resolution number 8/2017, only employees with severe or mild mental disabilities will be exempted from using the fingerprint system provided they submit certificates issued by the disability authority testifying that their disability hinders the use of the system.

By A Saleh and Meshaal Al-Enezi