Panel fields curbs on driving licences

KUWAIT CITY, June 11: The parliamentary Interior and Defense Committee on Sunday approved many proposals like stopping the issuance of driving licenses for the first time except the domestic workers and non-issuance of driving license to an expatriate who did not obtain such license from his home country.

Other proposals approved during the meeting include allowing military personnel who have been in service for more than three years to complete their university education and granting citizenship to the parents, wives, adult and minor children of martyrs.

Meanwhile, MP Ahmed Al-Fadel has forwarded questions to Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and State

Minister for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Subaih about the non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

He wants to know the number of licensed NGOs; number of charitable associations, committees and organizations authorized to collect donations; donation funds each charitable organization in the last 20 years; number of unlicensed charitable associations, if any; number of charitable associations licensed in the last five years; names of their founders; justifications for their establishment; their activities; and differences from their predecessors, if any.

He also inquired about the regulations for establishing charitable associations, if the ideological aspect is taken into account, and the mechanism for monitoring and uncovering violations of bylaws and founding purposes in NGOs.

In another development, a report prepared by the General Secretariat of the National Assembly — represented by the Advisory Department for supporting and following up meetings of temporary and permanent committees from March 1 to May 31, 2017 — disclosed that the Budgets and Final Accounts Committee recorded the highest number of meetings in the last legislative round; a total of 39 — 12 of which were held in March, 13 in April and 14 in May; while the Housing Affairs Committee did not hold any meeting.

The Finance Committee was ranked second with 16 meetings, followed by the Legislative Committee with 15 meetings; whereas the Education, Public Funds Protection and Containers Investigation committees tied in the third position with 11 meetings each.

The Human Rights Committee held seven meetings; the Special Needs and Public Utilities committees had eight meetings each; Petitions, Complaints and Health Affairs committees held six meetings each; Youth and Sports Committee had five meetings; Foreign Affairs, Interior, Defense, Business Environment Improvement and Priorities committees had four each; Agriculture and Negative Phenomena committees had three each; Women’s

Affairs and Response to the Amiri Address committees held two meetings each; and Bedouns Affairs Committee had one meeting.