MPs to nip-and-tuck text of Demographics Law
Questions on Eurofighter Typhoon deal
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 22: The parliamentary Human Resources Development Committee met on Thursday to edit the text of the Demographic Imbalance Law, which was ratified recently.
Committee Chairman MP Khalil AlSaleh affirmed that the law is a manifestation of the unprecedented cooperation between the government and the National Assembly. He pointed out that the way the government implements the law will determine its value, since it mandates the government to prepare the required decrees and executive decisions for the law to yield the desired results.
He said the law will enhance the monitoring role of the legislature as it will receive the government’s annual reports on the development of the demographic situation and the executed procedures.
He believes the proper implementation of the law will reflect positively on all fields, especially the social and security aspects. He stated that as per the law, the government will specify the maximum number of required expatriate workers and their qualifications in order to eliminate unnecessary expatriate workers who are behind a number of societal problems. He added the law will end negative phenomena such as murder and suicide among expatriates.
He affirmed the law will be forwarded to the Legislative Affairs Committee for further editing and then it will be submitted to the government.
On the other hand, MP Riyadh AlAdasani revealed the Eurofighter Typhoon deal signed by the Ministry of Defense is valued at KD 2.6 billion being paid in installments starting from fiscal 2015/2016 budget.
The lawmaker said he has a number of comments regarding the deal, such as the ministry’s signing of memos with the Italian company which increased the value of the deal by € 157 million. He added the ministry disrupted the monitoring work of the State Audit Bureau (SAB) through its delayed response to the queries of lawmakers.
Although more than KD 1 billion was added to the budget of the ministry in the last five years to pay for the Eurofighter, Al-Adasani could not determine the way the amount was spent due to lack of information and loopholes in the explanatory memo of the final account of the ministry.
He urged all the concerned public institutions to follow up the issue, calling to mind that the issue was referred to the Public Prosecution earlier.
Moreover, MP Dr Abdulkareem AlKandari appealed to the Islamic countries to adopt a united and strong position against the offensive statements of French
President Emmanuel Macron targeting Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Al-Kandari urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to condemn Macron’s hate speech and his decision to allow the republication of cartoons deemed offensive to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
In another development, MP Khalid Al-Shatti has submitted a proposal on assigning employees at the Funerals Directorate in Kuwait Municipality to wash the corpses of those who died of coronavirus.
He disclosed that he asked Minister of Health Dr Basel Al-Sabah and State Minister for Municipality Affairs Waleed Al-Jassem to organize trainings on washing the corpses of coronavirus victims for these employees.
He pointed out this is part of the Islamic rituals, and that he obtained information it can be done safely through strict adherence with a number of health regulations.