KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah received Director General of Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) Ahmad Al-Mousa to discuss the issue of not renewing residency permits of residents without a university degree who reach 60 years of age, Al-Anbaa Arabic daily reported yesterday, quoting informed sources. The decision does not ban residency renewal for this category of workers, but stipulates a payment of KD 2,000 if employers wish to renew their employees' residencies, the source said.

They added that there are several reasons behind PAM's insistence on going ahead with the decision, including amending the population structure and earning revenue for the state treasury. The sources said the issue was sent to the ministerial economic committee to give urgent recommendations to resolve the fee issue to be as before or KD 500, and keep the condition of having private health insurance.

Frontliners' rewards

In other news, Al-Rai Arabic daily reported yesterday quoting informed sources that a commerce and industry ministry move to distribute rations to workers on the frontlines of confronting the coronavirus pandemic at the health and interior ministries is not linked to cash rewards. They added the ministry has allocated a budget of KD 50 million and is waiting for some logistical work to be completed.

The ministry has completed all requirements of distributing the free rations to all deserving recipients for six months, according to the number of family members, adding that concerned authorities are waiting for ration distribution centers to be ready to serve deserving residents. They said citizens will receive their rations from their regular centers.