Housing projects form a large segment of Kuwait's development plan: Official

MP Saleh Ashour

KUWAIT: Government representatives informed the parliament's 'replacement and employment' committee that a vision is ready to unify salaries of public sector staff, while job descriptions of 4,000 positions have been set to be submitted to the parliament as part of the strategic payroll bill, MP Saleh Ashour said. Whether the government is serious or not on passing the bill will be clear during its next meeting with the parliamentary financial affairs committee, Ashour noted.

The new job descriptions will only apply to those recruited in the public sector after the law is passed and published in the official gazette, Ashour said. In addition, a law on regulating senior positions will be finalized in parallel with the strategic payroll bill in order to set the maximum wage for senior state officials in the positions of assistant undersecretaries and higher at KD 6,000, in addition to cancelling all other allowances and incentives for them, the lawmaker pointed out.

Residential areas

The Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) plans new residential areas for citizens with both service and investment elements, as housing projects form a large segment of the state's development plan, PAHW's official spokesperson Ibrahim Al-Nashi said. A new system was used to update the list of housing application, Nashi said, adding that the number of housing welfare applications had dropped from 110,000 to 96,000 thanks to the housing units distributed in recent years. Applicants have to be present in Kuwait to have units allocated to them, with a few exceptions for diplomats and scholars abroad, Nashi said.

Credit Bank

Kuwait Credit Bank's Deputy Chairman and General Manager Salah Al-Mudhaf stressed that construction of the bank's new headquarters in South Surra is proceeding according to schedule, adding that the building is expected to be officially completed and handed over during the first half of 2020. Speaking to reporters following a tour of the site, Mudhaf said construction is progressing well and that the damage caused by a fire last Ramadan has been restored. He noted that an international firm specialized in studying fires was hired to examine the affected parts of the site and determine the best ways to undo its effects. He added that remarkable efforts had been exerted to overcome the fire incident and make up for the time lost.

Mudhaf said studies showed that the parking building had not been affected by the fire and that work was in progress in the basement. Moreover, he stressed that touring the site during the national anniversaries was a message of appreciation to those who work around the clock - even on holidays and vacations - to meet the project's schedule. Representative of the project manager Ali Dashti said around 35 percent of the project has been completed. He added that changing orders had to be made to repair the damage caused by the fire, noting that the entire cost was covered by insurance.

KD 14,820

A court issued a ruling in favor of a citizen working for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), entitling him to judicial powers, and incentive allowances retroactively since April 1, 2012 - a total sum of KD 14,820, Al-Rowwad Legal Consultancy's lawyer Nasser Al-Ajmi said yesterday.

By A Saleh and Meshaal Al-Enezi