Demographic issue not featured in Assembly’s agenda for next term
Multifaceted issue that cannot be resolved in just a few months: Sources
KUWAIT: Some MPs spoke about what some of their colleagues have said about the population structure, calling for legislations to be discussed during the upcoming term that will prevent bringing expat labor to the country. Parliamentary sources said the demographic issue has no presence on the National Assembly’s agenda for next term which will start at the end of October. They said the population issue is multifaceted with many government agencies involved, such as the interior ministry, manpower authority, chamber of commerce and the civil service commission, and it is impossible to make conclusive decisions in just a few months.
The sources said some MPs proposed solutions such as halting work permits for some nationalities, increasing service fees, allocating a quota for each community, in addition to imposing health insurance
Studies needed to prevent negative repercussions
on every expat and an annual fee for services. They said such proposals are made for electoral gains, but they need extensive studies and legislative amendments because they may have negative repercussions, especially since the public sector is still suffering from a weakness in Kuwaitis’ productivity. This made many government agencies to retain expats, while many are employing expats on an ad hoc basis, because the civil service commission hasn’t allocated places for non-Kuwaitis.
Licenses to build
Separately, official sources at the housing authority said the owners of land south of Sabah Al-Ahmad City will not be given licenses to build before completing the infrastructure of the area, the first of which is the new sewerage system that links the city with two stations being built south of the country. The sources said the housing authority wants to avoid problems of hasty granting of construction licenses in Sabah Al-Ahmad, believing companies will finish their work before citizens build their homes, which led to the flooding of the area and damaging homes. They said the sewer station in Um Al-Haiman, which will be ready soon, will deal with any problem in the sewerage network, adding that the city when complete will be named Sabah Al-Awal (Sabah I) City.
In other news, the Commerce and Industry Ministry moved 10 experienced employees from the supervision and consumer protection department to Sharq fish market to boost the supervisory presence there.