Kuwait to help Iraq rebuild Mosul: Deputy Foreign Minister
MP wants to Limit expats’ right to change employers
KUWAIT:
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah said Kuwait and Iraq have already discussed holding a special conference to rebuild Mosul after liberating it from IS, as well as the possibility that a donors’ conference be hosted in Kuwait for this purpose. “Iraqis have been requested to prepare a vision of the conference,” Jarallah added, noting that the Iraqi side promised to come up with the vision and discuss it with Kuwait soon.
Jarallah said legal affairs managers at both foreign ministries will meet soon to discuss the details of demarking marine borders after mark 162. He also denied the presence of any problems or disputes concerning oilfields or other natural resources on the borders. Jarallah added that discussions also tackled navigation through Abdullah Creek and that both sides agreed to put a related agreement signed in 2014 into practice. “Signing an agreement to organize aviation between both countries will help launch commercial flights between Baghdad and Kuwait soon,” he concluded.
Foreign workers
MP Mubarak Al-Hajraf said that at a time when oil producing counties are reorganizing labor markets to create new job opportunities, encourage the youth to join the private sector and reduce dependence on expatriate labor, the government in Kuwait keeps recruiting foreign workers. “This indicates the government and the concerned minister’s failure and lack of vision to nationalize jobs and substitute expats with citizens,” he stressed.
Hajraf also criticized what he called as allowing some foreign embassies’ staff to interfere in the Public Authority for Manpower’s decisions on behalf of their nationals and at the expense of employers. “The Minister of Social Affairs and Labor has been prejudiced on dealing with citizens and accuses them of trafficking in expats, as if they (expats) and their embassies are not responsible as well,” he added, noting that the labor law needs real amendments to explain both sides’ rights and obligations.
Hajraf called for putting an end to what he described as the chaos at the manpower authority at the expense of Kuwait’s reputation. “Expats should not be allowed to transfer residency visas as long as employers respect the provisions in the contracts signed with them, namely those concerning labor, vocational and financial rights. This will help differentiate those who come to Kuwait to work and those who only come to make trouble and transfer visas as they wish,” he said, pointing out that chaos in Kuwait’s labor market encourages expats to purchase visas and do freelance jobs.
Moreover, Hajraf said that the labor law has many loopholes such as accepting grievances filed by expats working for people other than their sponsors and that this encourages many of them to abscond and get temporary visas to cancel the old one and shift sponsors, or even buy ‘free’ visas and start working on their own. “Expats have taken advantage of the weak laws and file more than one complaint without showing up for hearings, so that they can finally be allowed to transfer visas,” he explained.
Traffic jams
During a meeting of the government public services committee headed by Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Subaih and attended by Minister of Public Works (MPW) Abdulrahman Al-Mutawa, the finance ministry held MPW responsible for traffic jams in areas surrounding the ministries complex because of delays in adjusting the routes around the complex. At the same time, MPW promised to carry out short-term solutions within a month. Speaking during the meeting, the finance ministry’s assistant undersecretary for public services Nabil Al-Abduljaleel stressed that the finance ministry had done its part over a year ago, while MPW did not.
‘Positive’ meeting
Well-informed sources at the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) said that ministry officials recently held a joint meeting with State Audit Bureau officials to discuss the remarks mentioned in a recent report. “The meeting was very positive,” stressed the sources, noting that MEW promised to tackle the remarks and avoid violations and discuss them at the parliament on Jan 16.