American medical group likely to manage Jahra hospital

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior's (MoI) Assistant Undersecretary Maj Gen Sheikh Faisal Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah instructed all residency affairs departments to exert their utmost efforts on processing transactions of citizens and expatriates to make up for the days given off during the recent heavy rain. Informed sources said MoI's immigration director Maj Gen Abdullah Al-Hajri receives up to 100 applicants at his office daily. The sources added that over 3,000 transactions were being processed daily at various departments, with 400 at the Hawally department.

KISR employees

MP Khalil Al-Saleh filed an inquiry asking Minister of Education Hamed Al-Azmi about allegedly ignoring remarks made in a State Audit Bureau report, and failing to provide explanations to why 122 Kuwaitis quit their jobs at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and why non-Kuwaiti employees received salaries beyond the limits set by the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

Behind schedule

A State Audit Bureau (SAB) report stressed the Ministry of Services has repeatedly fallen behind schedule in executing some construction projects for which the total of KD 771,000 had been allocated, noting that this reflects the ministry's incapability to follow up the execution of those projects, and consequently increases the costs yearly. Meanwhile, another Sab report showed that revenues collected by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) during the fiscal year 2017-2018 dropped by 53 percent (KD 3.4 million) compared with estimates, adding that revenues had also dropped by 40 percent in 2015-2016 and 74 percent in 2016-2017.

Jahra Medical City

Finance Minister Nayef Al-Hajraf, Health Minister Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah and Amiri Diwan Undersecretary Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah recently met six international medical groups to select one of them to manage the Jahra Medical City, informed sources said. The sources added that an American medical group will most likely be selected in view of the success achieved by American medical groups in Abu Dhabi. The sources also noted that the estimated cost of running the city varies between KD 100 million and KD 200 million for a period of five to 10 years. They also reminded that the American Henry Ford Medical Group already runs a hospital in Riyadh. Notably, Jahra Medical City has a bed capacity of 1,234 in eight main buildings and the project is located over a total area of 235,000 sq m. It is expected to be completed within three years at a total cost of KD 354 million.

New building

The Ministry of Education (MoE) announced plans to move to its new building in South Surra on November 25, 2018, said educational sources, explaining that the new building includes the minister's office as well as those of the assistant undersecretaries for public education and educational development and activities. The sources added that some departments will not move to the new building until enough parking spaces become available. In another educational concern, sources said various educational zones will soon submit the names of the heads of examination centers for the upcoming first term exams. The sources added that each director will be entitled to nominate 10-15 educators to work with them at the designated centers.

Solar power

Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) is currently working on executing the Al-Dibdibah solar power project with a 1,500 megawatt capacity, projects manager Riyadh Al-Toura announced. He added that the project is located over an area of 32 sq km within KISR's Al-Sheqaya renewable energy complex, which is affiliated to Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). Toura added that the project had been offered for bidding through the Central Agency for Public Tenders and that 28 international companies and consortia have qualified for the project so far. He added that bids will close by Dec 16, 2018 and expected the project contract will be signed during the first quarter of 2019, adding the project is to be launched within 24 months effective from the date of signing the contract.

By A Saleh