KUWAIT: Manager of Al-Durra company for domestic helpers Saad Al-Munai said since he took over in March, he has been coordinating with foreign ministry advisor Anas Al-Shaheen to facilitate recruiting domestic helpers from Cambodia, adding that a special meeting will be held soon to discuss this matter. Munai added that Al-Durra will sign a contract with another agency from the Philippines within two months to increase the number of laborers at competitive rates. Meanwhile, informed sources said the Kuwait-Philippines joint committee will meet soon to reconsider some articles of the agreement signed last year on domestic helpers, including the legal measures taken against violators on both sides - employers and workers.

Delayed payments

Well-informed sources at the manpower authority said in an attempt to resolve the problem of delays in the payment of monthly salaries at a number of private companies, the authority insisted on making various companies deposit their workers' salaries by the 8th of every month to avoid suspending their files.

Wedding halls

Social Affairs Ministry's acting undersecretary Hana Al-Hajeri stressed that after passing the 2020-2021 budget for the coming fiscal year, the ministry will restart withdrawing the managements of wedding halls, announcing that it is already considering the withdrawal of five halls in various areas. Speaking on the sidelines of opening Nahar Al-Bughaili wedding hall in Naeem, Hajeri said 35 halls had been withdrawn from co-ops, noting that withdrawals had been halted for a while due to a lack of budget.

Ready for summer

Minister of electricity and water Khaled Al-Fadhel announced that in preparation for the summer season and the expected power consumption hike, gas-powered turbines are being used, adding that the ministry is fully prepared for the summer.

Budget increase

The health ministry asked the finance ministry to increase its 2018-2019 budget by KD 166 million to cover overdue claims for the electricity and water and services ministries, cleaning companies, assistant technical services, maintenance, spare parts and drugs contracts.

Self-check-in kiosks

Minister of commerce and industry and minister of state for services affairs Khaled Al-Roudhan announced installing 10 self-check-in kiosks at Kuwait International Airport to be used by travelers without luggage.

By A Saleh