Public life expectancy increased from 50 to 78 years, report shows

KUWAIT: There are 78,858 workers registered on 3,465 small and medium licensed enterprises in Kuwait, with an average of nearly 23 workers per company, a government official said yesterday. Meanwhile, the number of licenses for entrepreneurs registered with the Public Institution For Social Security reaches 7,734, said Fahd Murad, manager of small and medium enterprises at the Public Authority for Manpower. Meanwhile, admitted that some entrepreneurs attempt to manipulate the privileges they are given and illegally utilize them, which he said calls for strict control from his department jointly with the inspection and the manpower assessment departments to examine companies' files periodically and make sure they respect the law.
On rumors that some small and medium enterprise licenses were for visa trafficking, Murad said files of companies or employers allowing their workers to work in locations other than the designated ones or sponsor workers they do not actually employ had been frozen and referred to the Ministry of Interior for further investigations pending taking legal actions against them. "The authority will not allow SMEs to become backdoors for visa trafficking," he stressed.

Improved health
The 2018-2019 annual report issued by the Faculty of Public Health at Kuwait University showed that public health has greatly improved over the past two generations, with a rise of life expectancy from 50 to 78 years. However, the report also showed that non-infectious diseases, namely cardiac diseases, diabetes and cancer, in addition to injuries caused by traffic accidents, had increased over the past decades. It also showed that despite the progress made in hospitalization and medical treatment, public awareness remains significant to limit injuries and enhance public health.
In this regard, Kuwait University's deputy rector for the medical sciences' affairs center Adel Al-Henayyan said despite its recent establishment, the faculty managed to achieve a lot and stand side by side with other outstanding public health faculties. Henayyan elaborated that the achievements include launching two public health masters programs in vocational and environmental health and health policies and management. He added that teaching staff members published 47 scientific papers in accredited international magazines and took part in 40 local, regional and international conferences and symposiums. "In addition to its dean, Harry Vanue, this recently-established faculty recently added 10 new members to its teaching staff," Henayyan added, noting that the faculty will continue to enhance its academic staff's potentials.

Bedoons' passports
The citizenship department finalized a number of procedures to issue article 17 passports to bedoons (stateless residents), said informed sources, noting that the new measures include prioritizing those travelling for medical treatment and students. The sources added that the regulations also include allocating Sundays to receive applications from children of Kuwaiti women and those who already have Kuwaiti relatives, Mondays to follow up, scrutinize and do the transactions, Tuesdays for students and treatment abroad patients and Wednesdays for those included in the 1965 census and military personnel. The sources said the conditions also include holding valid security cards issued by the central apparatus for illegal residents' affairs and having recent security reports.

60 million gallons
The Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) is scheduled to launch today the first phase of using reverse osmosis for water desalination at Doha plant, which is expected to add 60 million gallons of water to the national grid on a daily basis. Informed sources said MEW had recently completed the project's trial operation and that it will today start by initially pumping 15 million gallons into the national grid until it reaches the full capacity of 60 million gallons.

Health insurance
The Central Agency for Public Tenders notified Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) that it was not within its liabilities to demand extending the collective health insurance contract for KPC employees for three more months, said informed sources. The sources added that two thirds of the bureau's members approved a request made by Kuwait Oil Company to make direct contracts to provide data system services at Ahmadi Hospital.

Ports profits
Kuwait Ports Authority's (KPA) profits increased by 57 percent during the fiscal year 2018-2019, said informed sources. The sources added that after studying the authority's final statement, the finance ministry urged the authority not to keep the net profits and deposit them to the state budget because of the financial circumstances the state budget suffers from due to fluctuating oil prices. The ministry also urged KPA to fill the 114 job vacancies it has, be more accurate in setting its budget, conduct enough studies and be more accurate in setting timetables.

By A Saleh