KUWAIT:  Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) latest statistics showed that the number of its Kuwaiti employees rose by 738 in the period of Jan 2017 to Jan 2018. Statistics showed that the total number of MEW employees in January 2018 was 20,656 compared to 19,918 in 2017. The sources added that 85 percent of expat employees have been laid off, leaving only 1,351 as of Jan 2018.

Fishermen's woes

Chairman of the Kuwait Fishermen Union Thaher Al-Sowayyan stressed that the union is the sole representative of all fishermen and the only body responsible for providing local markets with fish and shrimps. In a statement released on the occasion of appointing Sheikh Mohammad Al-Yousef Al-Sabah as head of the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR), Sowayyan expressed hope that all challenges fishermen have been facing will be eliminated. He added that several positive and negative decisions had been made concerning fishing seasons' timings. He added that despite meeting relevant officials and discussing reports and suggestions to increase the shrimp catch, some officials insisted on directly harming Kuwaiti fishermen. Sowayyan called for making decisions that matched those made by Kuwait's neighboring countries, namely GCC states, in terms of making use of Kuwait's share of fish resources in the Gulf instead of importing fish caught by other countries. He also called for relocating the imported fish market to leave the Sharq fish market for local fish only.

By A Saleh and Meshaal Al-Enezi