KUWAIT: Members of the Change List running for the elections of the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) labor union's board of directors yesterday demonstrated outside the Public Authority of Manpower's building in Jabriya, in protest against what they described as 'fake polling results' in the election of the syndicate's chairman. Head of the Change List Anwar Al-Muhaini said the recent election was held in violation of articles 18 of the syndicate's charter and article 30 of the government's law. He added that the election was held before the general assembly convened in full. Muhaini also claimed that many of the winners had applied to run for the elections after the deadline on Sept 30 and it was not supervised by the government. On his part, the manpower authority's Public Relations Manager Dr Madloul Al-Thafieri met with the demonstrators on instructions from Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Subaih and told them that the minister had ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the election's validity.

Labor rights

Chairman of Kuwait Society for Human Rights (KSHR) Khaled Al-Ajmi received an International Labor Organization (ILO) delegation headed by the regional advisor for immigrant affairs Hans van de Glind and program supervisor Jumana Karame, ILO coordinator in Kuwait Dina Beheri and the coordinator of the national project to enhance the manpower authority's capabilities Jaber Ali Al-Ali. Van de Glind reviewed the role ILO plays in protecting labor rights as well as the programs it carries out in the Arab region and its efforts to fight human trafficking, forced labor and abuses against workers, namely immigrants. He added that Kuwait has come a long way in protecting labor rights by passing the domestic labor law and setting unified contracts.

Investigations law

Third electoral constituency candidate Abdullah Al-Kandari demanded amending article 10 of the investigations law number 35/2001. He pointed out that the public prosecution was the sole body that investigates both crimes and misdemeanors worldwide, while the two are separated in Kuwait between the public prosecution and the investigations department.

Telecom authority

Minister of Communication and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Essa Al-Kandari and his undersecretary Hameed Al-Qattan yesterday visited the Public Authority for Telecommunications and Information Technology where they were received by the authority's CEO Salem Al-Othainah and discussed several issues including transferring the Ministry of Communication's responsibilities to the authority as per law number 37/2014.

Bad truffle

Municipal Council member Yousif Al-Ghareeb made several inquiries about the truffles municipality inspection teams recently seized at the truffle market. The Hawally committee at the municipal council yesterday also approved a proposal made by Ghareeb to ban the publication of food supplement ads in local dailies.

Mubarakiya Market

The Capital committee at the Municipal Council approved a project to develop the Mubarakiya Market, said the committee chairman Hassan Kamal, noting that the committee also agreed to a proposal to make the pedestrian bridge between Adailiya and Khaldiya an air-conditioned one.

Accident

Medevac was used to transport a man who had been injured in a traffic accident along Subbiya highway to Jahra Hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, an investigation was opened to determine the circumstances which led to the accident.

By Meshaal Al-Enezi