Government to push demographic structure discussion to next year
Compulsory departure deprives Kuwait of needed expertise
The issue of the demographic structure on the National Assembly’s agenda will be moved to the sessions of the new year, because the government did not complete its report in this regard, informed sources said. Moreover, the government does not want to discuss this subject because MPs are very strict with proposals that are difficult to implement at this time, including the quota for each community.
The government has a comprehensive vision to deal with the population structure, but this will not materialize before 10 years, said the sources, adding that the government cannot reduce expats by 50 percent as some MPs are demanding, while stressing that the government is ready for legislations to get rid of marginal laborers only.
The sources said the issue is in the hands of Social Affairs and Labor Minister Hind Al-Sabeeh, and several proposals have been submitted, some of which the government can implement. The sources said the government began issuing decisions to limit work permits for marginal workers, while other decisions will be issued to ban the transfer of visit visas to work permits for some communities in particular.
According to the sources, the policy of replacing expatriate labor with Kuwaiti employees is proceeding according to plan, yet state departments continue to hire expatriate workers through contractors against recommendations of the Civil Service Commission. The government is going to launch mega projects that require thousands of expat workers, but is ready for legislations with the National Assembly to retain specialized labor and send home those whose mission is completed at the project, the sources said. The government is also rejecting a parliamentary proposal that compels an expat to leave after five or 10 years in the country, adding that the government believes such a move will deprive Kuwait from the expertise it needs.
Corruption accusations
The implementations department at the justice ministry sent an employee to the prosecution after discovering the transfer of large amounts of money to another account other than that it was supposed to be transferred to. An informed source said there were transactions in which money was transferred to citizens’ accounts - such as rent amounts through IBAN - but the employee transferred the money to a different account.
Car auctions
The commerce and industry ministry called for allocating a plot of land for its diwan and another for car auctions and heavy equipment in Kabd with an area of 500,000 sq m. Ministry Assistant Undersecretary for Technical Support and Planning Dr Abdullah Al-Owaisi told in a letter to the Municipality Director General to order concerned departments to hasten decisions in this regard.