KUWAIT: The Cabinet meeting's agenda today has two major issues besides discussing economic laws such as bankruptcy, conflict of interests and charity laws, which need to be referred to the parliament for approval this term. In this regard, government sources said the Cabinet will discuss Kuwait's preparations over the regional developments in the aftermath of the assassination of the Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani and exchanged threats by US and Iran.

"Kuwait is located where it should be ready for any security-threatening emergencies, especially in view of the presence of a US military base within reach of Iranian threats among other targets in the GCC," the sources explained.

The source added that the government will discuss various issues including food and medicine reserves, securing various important locations such as oil sites and ports and enhancing security measures around US and foreign sites that can be potential targets of those threats. Further, the sources said every government body will be asked to prepare precautionary measures and emergency plans within a week, and that the media will launch a national public awareness campaign to boost and enhance patriotism and national unity and avoid sectarianism and hatred.

In addition, the sources stressed that the government will confirm that Kuwait is not taking any sides in this issue and calls for peaceful reactions to avoid acceleration. "No offensives will be launched against any side from Kuwait," the sources asserted, denying some Iranians allegations that the drones involved in assassinating Soleimani had been launched from Kuwait.

Moreover, the sources said the second main issue on today's Cabinet meeting agenda will be the grilling motion filed against Minister of Social Affairs Ghadeer Aseeri to be discussed tomorrow in parliament, adding that the government plans to refer the motion to the legislative committee to investigate its constitutionality, especially since Aseeri had been only appointed minister for a week when the motion was filed.

Flights suspended

Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) stressed that on coordination with relevant government bodies, its flights to Najaf in Iraq have been suspended for four weeks. KAC added that the suspension will remain in effect until security is restored in Najaf, the only KAC destination in Iraq.

Wanted for slander

The criminal court yesterday ordered summoning Dr Abdullah Al-Nafisi to court in a case filed against him in response to statements he made during the 'Black Box' TV show, in which he is accused of slandering certain people while talking about the Iraqi aggression on Kuwait.

Power maintenance

The Ministry of Electricity and Water started replacing seven 1,000 kilovolt secondary power transformers with new ones with a capacity of 1,250 KV each, said informed sources, noting that the project will take three years to replace transformers that had been in service for over 35 years. These had been designed to withstand maximum temperatures of 42 degrees, while the new transformers can operate in temperatures up to 55 degrees.

Performance evaluation

The administrative affairs sector at the ministry of social affairs started preparations to conduct the annual employees' performance evaluation, said informed sources, adding that the process that started at the beginning of January will be automated this year to save time and effort.

"An employee performance assessment can be done in two minutes compared to seven minutes in the old manual system," the sources explained, noting that Civil Service Commission (CSC) regulations will be strictly followed in terms of allocating 70 percent of the grade to performance and 30 percent for showing up to work according to the fingerprint system.

In another concern, the sources stressed that the ministry is going ahead with nationalizing its workforce and gradually laying off expats to replace them with citizens. "The ministry currently has the least number of expats amongst other ministries," the sources stressed, noting that expats form only 2 percent of the ministry's manpower.