Bedoons under rights panel - Speaker slams footage ‘leakers’

MP Safa Al-Hashem

KUWAIT: MP Safa Al-Hashem yesterday demanded in a draft law the scrapping of the newly-established company for the recruitment of maids from abroad because of its high prices.

Hashem said in her proposal that the company was established in accordance with a law passed in 2015 by the National Assembly with the main objective of bringing down the highly inflated prices charged by private recruitment offices. But the company, which began operations recently, is charging almost similar fees, which means it has failed to achieve the goals of its establishment and should be scrapped, she said.

Under the said law, only one company has been established, Al-Durrah Company, which recently advertised recruitment of domestic helpers from Sri Lanka, demanding a price of around KD 1,000, which is almost the same as charged by private offices.

Meanwhile, reports said the Kuwaiti Embassy in Manila recently sent a report to the foreign ministry in which it explained that the cost for the recruitment of a domestic helper from the Philippines is only KD 370, including the airfare.

Recruitment offices have been charging well over KD 1,000, which prompted MPs to pass the law to set up public shareholding companies for the recruitment of helpers with the aim to reduce prices.

Meanwhile, the Assembly’s human rights defense committee yesterday decided to include the issue of stateless people or bedoons under its mandate in a bid to help resolve their decades-old problem. Head of the committee MP Adel Al-Damkhi said the committee decided to invite State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh for a meeting to debate the establishment of the national human rights commission. He said the committee will pay an inspection visit to the central jail on Thursday and also decided to visit any facility where human rights abuses take place.

MP Mohammad Al-Dallal said yesterday that he will grill the new finance minister if he does not send the financial and economic reforms document to the Assembly before Feb 20 for a debate. Dallal asked the minister about the motives and the reasons behind the finance ministry’s plans to impose taxes on individuals and companies, especially since taxation has a unique system under capitalism and does not apply to the Kuwaiti constitutional system. The Assembly will hold its regular session tomorrow amid demands to debate the hike in petrol prices, amendments to the health insurance on expatriates and others.

Separately, Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem vowed yesterday that those who leaked footage deemed offensive to the political leadership will be exposed and penalized. Ghanem linked between these people and those who helped impose a ban on Kuwaiti sports, which was lifted by FIFA a few days ago and which allowed the country to host the Gulf football championship

By B Izzak