Kuwaitization on hold for 3 mths

Collecting dues from ministries on track

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 12: The Ministry of Public Works (MPW) has extended the term of a working group to supervise the implementation of the Kuwaitization program in its project contracts for a period of 3 months, reports Al-Anba daily.

The team formed in this regard is headed by the Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Planning and Development Affairs, with 9 members, provided that the team meets outside official working hours.

The team is responsible for following up the implementation of the regulation on contracts subject to its Kuwaitization decision, and developing a comprehensive plan for the implementation of the Kuwaitization program. It is responsible for ensuring the accuracy, integrity and procedures of the Kuwaitization program through contracts.

The team also recommends to the concerned authority the imposition of the penalties stipulated in the contract concluded with the contractor in the event of breach of his obligations stipulated in the contracts and related to Kuwaiti labor, and prepares short and long-term plans that show employment opportunities for Kuwaiti workers in the contractors’ contracts and submits its proposals in this regard to the follow-up team of the program Kuwaitization.

The team interprets the provisions of the regulations to the concerned authorities and determines and prepares the executive procedures for implementing the provisions of the regulations and submitting them for approval by the competent authority.

The technical committee for implementing the work teams and committees system shall submit a monthly periodic report on the team’s work, specifying in it the monthly work plan, what has been accomplished and the percentage of completion. The report is to be submitted in the last week of each month and at the end of the last working day of the month.

Collecting dues: Efforts of the Government Performance Follow-up Agency regarding the mechanism for collecting unpaid dues for ministries concluded with five recommendations at a time the Council of Ministers instructed government agencies to continue coordinating with the Ministry of Finance to identify and classify debts that are difficult to collect and develop the appropriate mechanism for collecting payment, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The agency submitted the following recommendations to the Council of Ministers:

1. The Ministry of Electricity and Water shall take measures stipulated in Article Three of Law number 48 of 2005 in the event that the consumer fails to settle unpaid bills.

2. Expedite the replacement of existing electricity and water meters to smart meters to ensure the collection of previous debts and prevent new debts.

3. Assign the Ministry of Finance to manage financial appropriations for the debts of government agencies to the Ministry of Electricity and Water and to include them within the budget projects of the debtor government agency in preparation for settlement.

4. Government agencies should coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to identify and classify debts that are difficult to collect and how to collect them, and to present the matter to the Council of Ministers to take the necessary action using the appropriate legal tool.

5. Confirmation of Cabinet Resolution number 412/Second adopted at its meeting number 17-2/2021 held on Dec 12, 2021 as mentioned above.

The agency coordinated with the Ministry of Finance in order to handle the debt of the Ministry of Electricity and Water to government agencies through the consumption of electricity and water based on a certain accounting mechanism.

13 threaten suicide: The concerned agencies have started procedures to deport 13 Turkish workers, who threatened to commit suicide by jumping from the 25th floor of a building in Salmiya due to the non-payment of their salaries for months, reports Al-Seyassah.

A security source stated that these workers entered the country on a tourist visa and then worked here, which is not the purpose of their entry; affirming that “legal measures have been taken against the company that hired them.”

He added the workers threatened to commit suicide by jumping from a scaffold on the 25th floor, then the security officers and firefighters rushed to the scene; while the director of the concerned company dissuaded the workers from committing suicide and promised to pay their salaries immediately.

The source indicated that Turkish citizens can enter the country through all the borders with a tourist visa, but they are not authorized to work here as per the Labor Law.