‘Leave it alone .... amending Kuwait nationality law sensitive issue’
“ENACTING new legislation related to the nationality law is not easy. The founding fathers in the Constituent Assembly were very careful in dealing with nationality laws, and considered it a sovereign issue to keep it away from bargaining,” columnist Talal Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“The issue is not the subject of five members submitting a draft law on nationality, whether the issue is naturalization or the withdrawal of government powers on the issue of nationality, on the grounds that it is an act of sovereignty, and as such the matter should be left to the judiciary.
“Amending the nationality law is a matter that affects the Kuwaiti national identity, and it must be discussed and agreed upon by all members of the National Assembly, and all members of the government, before amending it or tampering with it.
“The issue is much greater than that, because nationality is an act of sovereignty, it means that the safety valve is in the hands of the highest authority in the country, and that national identity is completely linked to acts of sovereignty, and that is enough. Words certainly do not show the true patriotism.
“It is very important for the issue of citizenship and naturalization to remain far from political bidding, popular gain, and give-and-take that violate many important matters, perhaps the most important of which is loyalty and national identity.
“The issue of sovereignty in particular on the issue of nationality was presented in previous parliaments, and in a better way than the one in which it was presented this time, and it did not get the approval from the National Assembly, or the government approval, or the Kuwaiti street, and this means that there is an agreement in principle that the issue of nationality remains a sovereign matter that cannot be tampered with. To say the least this very dangerous file is not recommended opening for discussion.
“The other matter, the recent ruling of the Court of Cassation settled the controversy over the issue of the 1965 census, and did not make it legally valid. This means that the campaigners of that census do not have the right to consider it a document that qualifies them to obtain citizenship, and this is the ruling of the Court of Cassation, the highest judicial authority, so is this not sufficient?
“Finally, whoever wants to donate, let him donate from his own pocket, and whoever wants to be rewarded, let him be rewarded from personal money as well, but if the gift is the Kuwaiti nationality, this is a great disaster.”
Also:
“No one will dispute the importance of food security in our time, and everyone who followed conferences that dealt with vital topics such as the environment, climate change, eradicating hunger and reducing the poverty gap fully realized the importance of proper planning for an effective strategy for food security,” columnist Dr Nada Suleiman Al-Mutawa wrote for AlJarida daily.
“Given the importance of the sustainable development goals and their integration into the Vision 2035 development plan, the importance of reconsidering food strategies of all kinds emerges, in addition to that, the international system was weak in the face of the Corona crisis when the level of food insecurity rose in most countries of the world. Here are some suggestions for reassessing the food security strategy:
“Measuring the volume of local consumption and measuring the capacity for agricultural and food production; improving agricultural productivity; striving towards a sustainable agricultural sector; encouraging youth initiatives, redistributing agricultural plots and stipulating achievement; measuring economic access to adequate and nutritious food.
“This is in addition to ensuring the availability of strategic stock; activation of digital agriculture; ensuring that the stock is fit for human consumption and is nutritionally sound; reconsidering the concepts of food, security and purchasing power, and paying attention to the issue of food waste and finally, establishing cooperation between the Agriculture Authority after getting rid of the problems that burdened it, such as acquisitions and misuse, and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research but on the condition that the results and recommendations of the studies are implemented.
“A final word: Why does the official not replace the inspection visits surrounded by media glamor with surprise visits without notifying the media and without prior preparation, thus achieving the first steps of the desired administrative reform?” “The strategic alternative salary scale project was completed in 2015, then presented to the Civil Service Commission and the Council of Ministers, which in turn referred it to the National Assembly for discussion and approval, but it has not been implemented till date,” columnist Abdullah AlAbduljader wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“Some MPs commented on it – whether to include the oil sector or not. This is in addition to comments, pointing out that some MPs did not fully understand the project. The Civil Service Commission put the project in the hands of qualified Kuwaitis, including full-time consultants and employees with experience in this field.
“Work on the project continued for two years – from 2013 to 2015. Unfortunately, the government signed a contract with a foreign consultancy firm after completion of the project. Therefore, some of the aspects that national consultants worked on were modified, although these aspects were approved by the Civil Service Commission before the project was referred to the foreign consultancy firm. What is the rationale behind contracting with a foreign consultancy firm on a project that has been completed and ready for implementation? This delayed the implementation of the project.
“My advice for the government and the Assembly to ensure optimal application of the strategic alternative salary scale is to refer it to the Kuwaiti consultants who worked on it or to those with experience among Kuwaitis to review and update it. Then, it should be referred first to the Human Resources Committee in the Assembly, not the Budgets Committee. The Kuwaiti consultants should discuss the project with the Human Resources Committee to polish it, if necessary.” “One of the reasons behind the low employee productivity in Kuwait is the lack of training – initial and follow up, as well as the lack of qualification to do the work, while employees do not get enough sleep, as many of them stay up late and are required to work early in the morning...” columnist Sami Al-Nisf wrote for Annahar daily.
“The best way to raise productivity is to conduct continuous training programs and divide the daily working hours into two – from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm and from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm, the latter is more suitable and productive for employees who live in remote areas and those who like to stay up late...
“A five-hour shift is a thousand times better than one full morning shift with an average production rate of not more than a few minutes, as it is happening now in most institutions!”