‘Treatment in wards risks spread of virus’

KUWAIT CITY, May 3: The agenda of the parliamentary Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee for its meeting on Sunday consists of several bills, such as the proposal of MP Omar Al-Tabtabaie and some other lawmakers to amend the Labor Law in a bid to impose harsher penalties on those involved in visa trading and to obligate employers to provide work for the expatriates they bring to Kuwait according to the signed contracts.

The bill prohibits employers from hiring workers from abroad based on fake data, while the number of workers recruited from other countries should match the actual manpower need of the companies. It imposes harsher penalties on those proven to have violated the law – maximum seven years imprisonment and KD 30,000 fine or any of these two penalties. The employer, who violated the law, shall bear the cost of repatriating the workers and the company or business will be closed for a period of one year maximum. The same penalties will be imposed on employers who hire workers under the sponsorship of another employer. These penalties do not prevent Kuwait from exercising its right to take administrative procedures like deporting expatriate workers proven to have violated the law.

Another item in the agenda is the bill submitted by MP Al Humaidi Al-Subai’e who suggested amending Article Nine of the Foreigners Law to grant permanent residency to the children of Kuwaiti women married to nonKuwaitis or Bedouns regardless of their age or nationalities. He said the bill is aimed at alleviating the suffering of these Kuwaiti women.

The agenda also includes the proposal of MP Abdullah Al-Roumi to amend the Civil and Commercial Procedures Act issued according to Decree No. 38/1980.

The bill stipulates the use of electric means to notify the concerned individuals, institutions or companies about judicial appointments – SMS, fax, e-mail and others.

In another development, MP AlHumaidi Al-Subai’e said Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) should not violate the law on its establishment, stressing that the State owns the reserve profits under the custody of KPC. He pointed out that KPC has been keeping these profits for more than 12 years, ignoring the requests of several former ministers of finance to transfer the money to the public treasury. He disclosed incumbent Finance Minister Barrak Al-Shitan is not the first minister who asked KPC to transfer these profits to the public treasury, adding that the corporation is not serious in enforcing the law.

Meanwhile, MP Muhammad Haif clarified that he supports and appreciates the efforts exerted by Minister of Health Dr Bassel AlSabah in addressing the coronavirus crisis but he is against the decision to treat coronavirus patients in the wards even if they stay in separate rooms as it happened recently in Farwaniya. He urged the minister to cancel the decision, warning that this will increase the danger of spreading the virus.

Furthermore, MP Abdulkareem Al-Kandari called on Minister of Commerce and Industry Khalid Al-Rawdan to protect the consumers from some companies which offer online shopping services. He said these companies force the consumers to pay in advance, delay the delivery of goods, and refuse to replace items in case the ordered goods are out of stock.