Lawmaker proposes up to KD 700 salary for housewives

KUWAIT: Ten lawmakers yesterday submitted a motion calling to hold a special assembly session on Sunday to debate the employment of Kuwaitis amid complaints by the legislators that the government was not doing enough to create job opportunities.

MP Mohammad Al-Mutair said that 10 MPs have signed the request to hold the session. The request will be first studied by the assembly office before the session is approved. Unemployment is a very sensitive popular issue and lawmakers greatly focus on putting pressure on the government to create job opportunities for Kuwaiti citizens especially in the government.

The assembly has formed a manpower committee with the aim to propose policies and cooperate with the government to resolve the unemployment problem among Kuwaitis although it is one of the lowest in the world. Among the proposals MPs urge is to increase the pace of dismissing expatriates in government departments to create vacancies for Kuwaitis.

In a related development, MP Majed Al-Mutairi submitted a proposal yesterday calling on the government to grant Kuwaiti housewives who have no work a monthly salary of between KD 500 and KD 700. He said the beneficiaries should not have any work in the private sector or own any private business. In addition, those wives should hire only one domestic maid to assist her but must not appoint a private driver. Similar proposals were submitted many times in the past several years but did not even come up for debate in the assembly. They were also rejected by the government.

By B Izzak