KUWAIT: Making
sure that proper infrastructure is in place for key residential projects is
among the government's chief priorities, Minister of Public Works Dr Jenan
Boushehri said yesterday. The minister's remarks came in response to a question
by a lawmaker, during yesterday's parliament session, over a residential
project planned for Kuwait's southern suburb of Khaitan. Boushehri, who also
serves as minister of state for housing, underlined that "responsibility
for infrastructure is primarily held by the ministry of public works."

Meanwhile,
Finance Minister Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf said that the government is taking the
necessary measures to reclaim retained earnings found in a number of state
bodies including Kuwait Port Authority, in addition to the oil sector. "We
have taken back $12 billion worth of retained earnings from the oil
sector," the minister revealed.

Amir's motivation

In the meantime,
the Minister of Justice said that he is quite motivated by His Highness the
Amir's confidence in him, pledging to sincerely serve Kuwait in any post. Dr
Fahad Al-Afasi, who doubles as Minister of National Assembly Affairs, said in a
statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that he has been deeply honored with the
confidence accorded to him by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad
Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in the cabinet reshuffle. "I have been placed in front
of a great challenge; a challenge that spurs me to work more diligently and serve
Kuwait continuously at any position I am assigned to," minister Afasi
added.

Afasi said that
during his service as minister of awqaf he had made several accomplishments;
such as a new administrative structure separating divisions' jurisdictions and
creating new posts. Elaborating, Afasi said he was co-architect of the
"new mosque covenant" for regulating activities at the mosques,
enactment of waqf funds laws, regulations for research and manuscripts'
authentication.

Manpower
authority

Meanwhile, a daily
reported yesterday that a resolution is expected to be made soon to put the
Public Authority for Manpower under the jurisdiction of the newly-appointed
Minister of State for Economic Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel. The fact that the
Public Authority for Manpower was not subjected to the newly-appointed Minister
of Social Affairs Saad Al-Karraz or the newly-appointed Minister of State for
Economic Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel was cause for surprise, as the three bodies -
the ministry of social affairs and labor, ministry of state for economic
affairs and the manpower authority - had all been within former minister Hind
Al-Sabeeh's jurisdiction, Al-Rai reported yesterday.

Official sources
quoted in the report noted that the manpower authority is presumed to be under
Aqeel's jurisdiction along with the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the
Manpower and Government Restructuring Program (MGRP). The sources added that
over her years in office, Sabeeh worked on gathering all labor market and
demography-related bodies under the umbrella of the ministry of state for
economic affairs.