KUWAIT: The Civil Service Commission (CSC) is still collecting money that was paid illegally to Kuwaiti employees in the private sector between August 2009 and December 2016 as mentioned in recent State Audit Bureau reports, said Fawzi Al-Majdali, Secretary General of the Manpower and Government Restructuring Program (MGRP). The amounts were reportedly paid to people who transferred to the public sector yet continued to collect monthly allowances paid the government pays to private sector employees, Majdali said. According to the reports, KD 77.843 million were paid unlawfully to 6,195 employees in the period mentioned above, but a large number of that amount has already been recollected in the past two years, Majdali explained.

Environmental situation

State Minister for Housing Affairs Jinan Bushehri met with Public Works Minister Hussam Al-Roumi, and Director of the Public Authority for Agricultural Affaris and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) Faisal Al-Hasawi to coordinate with regards to the environmental situation at Sabah Al-Ahmad City. Director of the Public Authority for Roads and Transportation Ahmad Al-Hussan and Environment Public Authority Director Sheikh Abdullah Al-Humoud Al-Sabah attended the meeting.

Bushehri said after the meeting that an agreement was reached by which PAAAFR would close down wells located in the city and revive the tree belt around it very soon. She said PAAAFR will transport water by tankers from the end of the treated water channel to the tree belt to reduce the water level inside the channel, Bushehri said. Meanwhile, the health ministry was contacted to fight pests which spread around the city from ponds that formed due to a flooding in the area's rainwater drainage system.

Separately, the Ozone department at the Environment Public Authority met with officials from the Commerce and Industry Ministry to discuss issues related to cooling and air conditioning gases. A decision was made during the meeting to prevent any hikes in the prices of gas before the summer. Meanwhile, three persons were caught hunting inside Jahra protectorate in coordination with the Interior Ministry. The three face punishments of paying KD 50,000 fines each and possibly jail time.

By A Saleh