KUWAIT: The
Public Authority for Manpower denied issuing a decision or circular allowing
the transfer of small projects' laborers to the private sector. A local newspaper
had said according to informed sources, the authority is contemplating a
decision regarding expat labor in small projects.

In other news,
sources said the information ministry is carrying out a comprehensive study to
re-evaluate work in the special programs budget, adding that rewards were not
paid to workers in such programs since March. They said the financial ceiling
for such programs is open and surpasses the allowed limit for Kuwaiti employees
at KD 1,200 and expats at KD 600.

They said rewards
of programs with special budgets were stopped until the rules of such programs
are amended to suit the ministry's budget, as the ministry seeks solutions for
the issue including the unification of rewards and make sure they do not vary
in all programs.

Alternative
energy

Ministry of
Electricity and Water's undersecretary for technical services and main
workshops Fuad Al-Oun said the ministry plans to use alternative energy
technologies as a basic element of the components of new ministry buildings,
and is set to commit to power produced from renewable energy sources in new
buildings at no less than 10 percent to alleviate load on the power grid.

He said the
ministry will use 10 current buildings to implement projects with a capacity of
3.6 megawatts. Oun said the ministry is studying the possibility of
constructing multilevel parking lots for the ministry with 900 parking places
to serve ministry employees as a solution due to the increasing number of
employees. He said the parking building will have an Islamic architectural
design, and its roof will be used to install photoelectric panels with a
capacity of 483 KW.

Visiting
cardiologist

Sabah Al-Ahmad
Heart Center will host an Italian cardiologist as part of the center's policy
to attract the best medical experts and provide all aspects of care in the
field of heart diseases. Prof Carlo de Mario is one of the pioneers in the
field of heart disease and highly skilled in surgical procedures. The visit
will be from Aug 25 to 29 to carry out several delicate procedures and
treatment. Kuwaiti patients can inquire about making appointments with the
visiting cardiologist by calling 22272608.

By A Saleh