KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets new ministers appointed in the Cabinet yesterday. – KUNA

KUWAIT: New
ministers appointed in the Cabinet on Monday in a limited reshuffle took the
constitutional oath in the National Assembly yesterday after they were sworn in
by HH the Amir. The ministers were welcomed by MPs with warnings to quickly
take the necessary measures to rectify violations made by previous Cabinet
ministers and threatened they will be grilled if they fail to initiate reforms.

Opposition MP
Al-Humaidi Al-Subaei gave the new ministers and the entire Cabinet two months
to carry out the needed reforms before filing to grill them. He said Oil
Minister Khaled Al-Fadhel in particular will be grilled after two months if he
fails to take swift actions in the oil sector. The lawmaker stressed the need
for actions by the new minister regarding violations in projects and contracts
in the oil sector, adding that MPs will assist the minister and cooperate with
him if he takes the necessary reforms. The same applies to other new ministers,
Subaie added.

MP Saleh Ashour
also threatened to grill the new Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Saad
Al-Kharraz if he fails to take action against illegal charity societies, saying
that the former minister had said that she ordered the closure of 34 illegal
charity organizations, but another 85 were still operating illegally.

Foreign Minister
Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah said Kuwait has been hailed for its
organization of charity work in the country, adding that the Cabinet has taken
a decision to shut down all charities operating without a proper license. The
minister said the government is following up the delay in the implementation of
the decision, adding that the United States and several European countries have
considered Kuwait a good example in regulating fundraising operations. Sheikh
Sabah said the government has succeeded in safeguarding charity work in the
country by regulating it and linking charity organizations with the ministries
of foreign affairs, interior and social affairs and labor.

MP Omar
Al-Tabtabaei criticized what he described as laws that are not favorable for
foreign companies and capital in the country. Minister of Commerce and Industry
Khaled Al-Roudhan said the government is taking remarks by lawmakers seriously
and noted that following the recent upgrade of the Kuwaiti bourse, it attracted
around $1 billion in new investments.

Finance Minister
Nayef Al-Hajraf said a contract by an entertainment company was sent to the
public prosecution over suspicions, adding that the Entertainment City was
closed because it posed a danger to visitors and its refurbishment is very
expensive. But MP Safa Al-Hashem objected to this, saying that it needs around
KD 20 million and called on the minister to make the decisions to invest in the
amusement park.

Speaking on the
plight of bedoons or stateless people, MP Subaei said they constitute a time
bomb and called for swiftly resolving their problem. The lawmaker inquired why
authorities have not naturalized the 34,000 bedoons the government had
repeatedly said deserve Kuwaiti citizenship. MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri urged the
new ministers to change their attitude, adding that Kuwait "did not
die" by the Iraqi invasion, but it appears now it is "going to
die" by corruption.

By B Izzak