Ministry must force companies to pay delayed salaries of workers, says MP

Names of two incumbent MPs in money-laundering probe

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh

Arab Times Staff & Agencies KUWAIT CITY, June 27 : MP Abdulkareem AlKandari said the scenario of laborers, who have not received their salaries for four months, is not less offending for Kuwait than the money laundering and human trafficking cases.

He called on the Ministry of Social Affairs to take the necessary action in order to compel the concerned companies or institutions to pay the delayed salaries and then punish them.

On the other hand, MP Al-Humaidi Al-Subai’e proposed that the Ministry of Social Affairs should submit a detailed report on visa trading to the National Assembly within one month.

He said the report must reveal if there are employees at the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) who contributed to the rising number of visa trading crimes by approving the excess number of workers -- more than the estimated manpower need. He suggested the report should include the names of these employees and punitive action taken against them, confirming the Assembly approved his proposal and that he will closely follow up its implementation.

In another development, MP Khalid Al-Otaibi voiced objection to the idea of inviting Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi to Kuwait whether personally or officially. He stressed that whoever supported the invasion of Kuwait is not welcomed here and shaking hands with them is considered betrayal to the martyrs’ blood.

Queries

Meanwhile, Al-Otaibi forwarded queries to Minister of Social Affairs and State Minister of Economic Affairs Mariam AlAqeel about the expatriate workers whose residency permits are under government contracts. He wants to know the number of companies with more than 100 workers, names of these companies, names of owners, reasons behind the protest action of expatriate workers with government visa, action taken against erring companies, companies referred to the Public Prosecution, and number of contracts signed by the government and private companies in the last 10 years.

Also, MP Osama Al-Shaheen affirmed his willingness to support the proposal to grant financial aid to businesses which incurred losses due to the lockdown. He said the financial support must be subject to monitoring and the amount should match the losses.

He emphasized the need to regulate the reopening of establishments by ensuring strict compliance with the health regulations, particularly social distancing.

Meanwhile , the investigations by the Public Prosecution into the case of the Bangladeshi MP , resident of Kuwait who is accused of trafficking in humans, money laundering and bribery has triggered high-caliber surprises and includes the names of two current MPs, reports AlQabas daily.

A familiar source told the daily the Public Prosecution is preparing a letter to be submitted the Speaker of the National Assembly, Marzouq Al-Ghanem, requesting to lift the immunity of these parliamentarians to be made available for interrogation and investigation.

The source indicated investigations conducted by the Prosecution revealed the involvement of the two MPs in the case to look into this file because at stake is the reputation of Kuwait.

The source said the case is like a jigsaw puzzle and the crime of human trafficking and visa trading is expected to reveal other names in the next few days. No one will escape punishment.