Public sector must be exclusive to citizens: Lawmaker

MP Nasser Al-Dousery

KUWAIT: MP Nasser Al-Dousery stressed that even though the parliament rejected his proposal to form a special committee to handle the affairs of bedoons (stateless people), he still believes that bedoons have been subjected to a lot of injustice and should not be deprived from their civil rights. Dousery added in a statement that he will resume following up proposals that he and his colleagues made in the previous term, including subjecting the currently independent Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents Affairs to the Interior Ministry following what he described as an 'absolute failure' in solving bedoons' problems. He also called for solving the problems of bedoons who had been forced to get fake passports only to get their pension as well as suggesting granting citizenship to at least 2,000 of those meeting the conditions this year.

Public reaction

MP Riyadh Al-Adsani

MP Riyadh Al-Adsani said that he was a member of a parliamentary committee formed to probe the multimillion-dinar bank deposits' case in the two previous parliaments, saying that he brought up lists containing the names of politicians in question and sums deposited in each of their bank accounts. Commenting on the National Assembly's break-in case, Adsani said that the incident happened as a form of public reaction against the sudden increase in some lawmakers' bank accounts, and promised to expose the truth by holding whoever was involved accountable. He also noted that those who broke into the parliament did not stay inside for long and did not form a rally inside, which calls for acquitting them from such charges.

Public sector

MP Khalil Al-Saleh

MP Khalil Al-Saleh said that the parliamentary replacement and employment committee will meet tomorrow to set a road map for its work and stressed that approving the formation of the committee was a great step towards activating the parliament's role in this regard. Saleh also expressed hopes that the government will cooperate with the committee to solve the unemployment problem because it is high time that employment in the public sector is made exclusively for citizens. He added that the committee will work on gradually replacing expatriates with citizens in the public sector until the unemployment problem is solved. He added that figures show an increase in appointing expats in state departments, who now make up 30 percent of manpower in the public sector with an increase of 2.5 percent compared to 2012.

Housing units

The Public Authority for Housing Welfare recently excluded 227 out of the total of 693 housing applications filed by disabled citizens to receive housing units in Southern Khaitan, said informed official sources, noting that 32.1 percent of the applicants filing to get one of the 1,448 units in the project were citizens with disabilities. The sources added that accepting allocation applications from disabled citizens does not necessarily mean they will get the unit as allocation is done according to date and type of application, as recommended by former housing minister Yasser Abul.

Disciplinary penalties

The oil sector recently imposed some administrative disciplinary penalties on employees who had violated regulations set by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and its subsidiaries. The new penalties start with written notices and end up with dismissal except in two cases when a violator is immediately dismissed if he works under the effect of or possesses alcohol or drugs on work sites, carries matches, lighters, flammable substances or smokes in restricted areas. The new strict penalties' chart also includes dismissal in case of disobeying work-related instructions from superiors or violating the safety, health and environmental instructions.

MPW projects

The Ministry of Public Works (MPW) stressed that the contractors in Sheikh Jaber Causeway project had not committed any punishable safety violations of the contract's conditions, adding that there is full coordination and cooperation concerning all projects supervised by the Public Roads Authority. Commenting on cancelling the Jahra ministries complex project, MPW said that the cabinet had issued a decision during a meeting held on July 7, 2017 pertaining with authorizing MPW to build service centers in West Oyoun, South Metla', Nawaf Al-Ahmed City, Jahra City and Sabah Al-Ahmad City with accordance to the fourth structural plan, instead of the ministries complex, as suggested by the structural plan's advisors.

By A Saleh