ShareKUWAIT: MP Saleh Ashour urged his colleagues to take a serious stand against the new electricity and water consumption tariffs due to be imposed on citizens and expats and described them as 'disastrous', because they would negatively affect their 'already empty pockets', as he put it. He also described rejecting previous proposals on determining the consumption categories' pricing and coming up with current ones as a 'pretext'. Ashour urged the government to impose the new prices on owners of fancy complexes, shopping malls, companies, banks and industrial lands that were turned into shopping malls in Shuwaikh and Sharq, netting them millions of dinars.
Ashour also suggested imposing fees on profits of companies listed on the stock exchange and using the profits made by the Kuwait Investment Authority locally instead of abroad. "Citizens are closely watching how we act and will respond in the coming elections," Ashour told his colleagues. MP Saud Al-Huraiji stressed that the new prices suggested by the government contradict its previous promises not to target those with limited and medium incomes. He added that the new rates would increase power consumption bills by 225 percent for people with limited and medium income.
MP Kamel Al-Awadhi criticized recent statements by Electricity and Water Minister Ahmed Al-Jassar about increasing electricity and water prices fourfold, noting that such prices were too much and beyond citizens' capabilities, especially since such increases would be followed by other price increases of rent and basic consumer goods.
"Such statements contradict previous promises that economic reform measures would not affect citizens," he underlined, pointing out that the government could have revived the economy by other alternatives such as building more factories, supporting agriculture, opening up for touristic investments, supporting small projects and imposing taxes on companies and luxury imports. "The government can also save millions every year if lights were switched off at various ministries and government offices outside of official working hours," he stressed.
Incidentally, most MPs are only opposing new power tariffs on residential houses, mostly inhabited by Kuwaitis, and not those proposed for commercial enterprises and investment buildings, mostly inhabited by expatriates.
Meanwhile, MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji said fears expressed by Finance Minister and acting oil minister Anas Al-Saleh were unjustified and were only meant to promote the economic reform package that the government wishes to make simple citizens pay for. Turaiji warned Saleh to be careful with the statements he makes, especially since he is responsible for two important portfolios. He added that if the tasks were too much for the minster, he should step down, because Kuwait is full of other competent citizens. "International bodies including IMF's Christine Lagarde have denied that Kuwait suffers any deficits and made fun of exaggerations of a true deficit that does not exist in Kuwait," he said, noting that Kuwait managed to go through tougher financial situation a few years ago when oil prices dropped to $8 a barrel.
Also, MP Hamdan Al-Azmi renewed his total rejection of privatizing government companies and called for fighting such moves that would crush Kuwait's middle class and create extremely wealthy and an extremely poor classes. "This is against the constitution," he said, noting that what Kuwait really needs at such a critical time is a strong government capable of facing problems and diversifying sources of income.
Separately, MP Ahmed Al-Qudhiabi rejected referring the Audit Bureau's report on the oil pipeline tender to the fatwa and legislation department because he alleged the latter was not a neutral body and because it was one of the bodies responsible for the tender's mistakes.
In other news, the Civil Services Commission (CSC) has received lists of expat employees at various ministries due to be laid off either because they have reached legal retirement age or because their skills were no longer needed. CSC sources added that these employees would not be replaced by expats and that the vacancies would be filled by citizens who are awaiting employment. The sources added that the lists received came from the education and awqaf ministries.
By A Saleh
