Govt keen on providing decent jobs, pay for citizens: Minister

Hind Al-Sabeeh

KUWAIT: The government will sign new agreements with Bangladesh, India, Philippines and Sri Lanka for the recruitment of domestic labor, Minister of Social Affairs and State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh has said. "It is expected to recruit domestic helpers from India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Sri Lanka," she told Al-Anbaa Arabic newspaper. Specific details were not available.

Sabeeh disclosed that a new online system is being developed based an application allowing the employer to select the housemaid based on preferred nationality and age requirements. Fees will also paid via the application. "This way, we will be able to eliminate any corruption and guarantee rights of all sides," she said. "Work is also being done to handle illegal recruitment offices that do not meet regulations."

Last month, head of the Kuwaiti Union of Domestic Labor Office Khaled Al-Dakhnan said that an earlier pact on domestic labor between the Gulf country and the Philippines is in peril after Manila has demanded Kuwaiti recruitment offices to deposit an insurance fee of $10,000 in banks to pay Filipinos in case of terming their contracts or withholding their salaries.

In May, both countries signed the agreement regulating the employment of domestic workers in Kuwait after their ties deteriorated over a row on treating Filipino employees and Kuwait's expulsion of the Philippine ambassador.

Earlier this year, the Philippines banned its nationals from working in Kuwait over alleged abuses after a dead Filipina was found stuffed in a freezer inside an apartment in Kuwait. The ban was later lifted amid a thaw in ties between the two countries.

The minister said that relevant agreements will be signed with authorities of the four countries after the holiday of Eid Al-Adha, due later this month. "This will ensure smooth recruitment of the labour and related regulations," she said.

Decent jobs

Bakheet Al-Rasheedi

Separately, Minister of Electricity and Water Bakheet Al-Rasheedi said Wednesday that the government was keen on providing decent jobs and pay for citizens to encourage them work in private sector. Rasheedi was commenting on newspaper advertisements in which a contracting company offered jobs for Kuwaiti citizens to work in data entry, drivers, and readers of electricity and water meters. Rasheedi, also Minister of Oil, rejected the job advertisement by the contracting company. He said that he instructed the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) executives to review process of tenders and contracts, specially the hiring of Kuwaiti nationals and nature of jobs. Rasheedi also asked the executives to specify number of Kuwaitis working in the ministry.

The government had embarked on a plan since the beginning of the year to replace expatriates working in state departments with national manpower, as part of efforts to fully 'Kuwaitize' public sector jobs within two years and in a bid to fight unemployment. The number of unemployed Kuwaitis reportedly reached 13,523 during the first quarter of 2018, including 3,540 males (26.18 percent) and 9,983 females (73.82 percent). Statistics from the Civil Service Commission and published by recently Al-Anbaa showed that the percentage of those who were unemployed for 12 and more months is 45.66 percent, while those unemployed for six months and less than 12 months is 13.75 percent, and those unemployed for less than six months make up 40.58 percent. The statistics showed the number of unemployed people is dropping compared to 2013, when the number of jobless people reached the highest level at 19,218 individuals. The numbers then fluctuated, and dropped significantly this year.

Statistics showed the majority of unemployed people are women, and married women among them make up a great majority. Jobless people with a low education level - elementary and intermediate education only or without any qualification - make up 61.95 percent. Meanwhile, around 55.71 percent of the unemployed do not have enough professional qualifications to work, with a lack of training courses that qualify them to get job opportunities.