Expat govt employees need double clearance for private sector visa

Health ministry to ‘limit’ hiring of non-Kuwaitis

KUWAIT: A public sector employee is required to obtain permission from the state department where he is employed in addition to ‘security approval’ from the Interior Ministry before he or she can transfer to work in the private sector, according to a new condition announced yesterday. The new directive issued by the Public Authority for Manpower yesterday stipulates new conditions for workers under article 17 visas wishing to transfer to article 18 visas, who in that case would need to receive clearance from their employer as well as the Interior Ministry, the authority’s spokesperson and public relations director Aseel Al-Mazyad said yesterday.

Environmental violations down

According to recent statistics issued by the Environment Public Authority (EPA), the total number of environmental violations dropped by over 86 percent. Statistics also showed that 178 environmental violations were cited in 2017 compared to over 1,300 in 2016. The statistics reviewed during a seminar titled ‘Students and Environment Protection Law’ organized for public school students explained that smoking in public areas dropped from 1,073 cases in 2016 to only 150 in 2017. The statistics also showed that littering violations dropped from 144 to only 21, engineering and environmental violations dropped from 133 to only five and violations concerning obtaining licenses prior to any construction project, even expansions, dropped from 47 to only two. EPA credited the drop to awareness campaigns it launched over the past two years. Hospital projects Health Minister Sheikh Dr Basel AlSabah said the official opening date of Jaber Hospital will be determined as soon as it is handed over by the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) after it is furnished and equipped. He added that the hospital includes a specialized 65-clinic center and a nurse dormitory. Responding to a parliamentary inquiry filed by MP Salah Khorsheed, Sheikh Basel stressed that the Ministry of Health (MoH) is currently assessing the manpower needed in various medical fields and technicians according the bed capacity of each of its hospitals. He stressed that hiring non-Kuwaitis will be limited to certain specialties that cannot be filled by Kuwaitis.

Sheikh Basel noted that the new Amiri Hospital is expected to open on May 28 and the Kuwait Cancer Center will open on May 24. The minister added that the infectious diseases hospital’s demolition and reconstruction project was supposed to start on March 16, but the contractor requested extending the period until Nov 24. Sheikh Basel also pointed that the new Farwaniya Hospital project is scheduled to conclude on Dec 26, 2019 and the new Adan Hospital project on Jan 27, 2020. Finally, he said that the new Jahra Hospital project is still being reviewed at the Amiri Diwan.

Co-op jobs

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) has started the approval process for Kuwaitis who have applied to work in various co-operative societies, assistant undersecretary for cooperative affairs Abdul Aziz Shuaib said, noting that a special committee will be formed to set the needed conditions and qualifications for various positions, including leading ones. Shuaib added that efforts are being exerted to Kuwaitize all jobs in various co-ops and stressed that the pace of replacement will be accelerated after forming special teams to resolve any problems.

Environmental violations down by 86%