KUWAIT CITY, Sept 14: The telecommunication companies in Kuwait have been taking advantage of the Ministry of Communi-cation’s failure to closely monitor the fees charged for various services offered by these companies, MP Dr Faisal Muslim said Tuesday.
Al-Muslim disclosed he forwarded some questions to Minister of Communications and State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Dr Mohammad Al-Busairi on the soaring telecommunication service fees in the country. He said the wireless communication and other related public services are under the jurisdiction of the ministry; hence, it is expected to monitor this sector in the interest of the public.
Article Two of law number 26/1996 on the establishment of telecommunication companies states that these companies should operate under the supervision of the ministry.

Article Three specifies the rates for subscription and other services in accordance with the conditions set by the concerned minister.
Article Four grants the concerned minister the authority to issue the required directives for the implementation of the law within two months from the date of working with it.
With these articles in mind, Al-Muslim asked the minister if a decision on the implementation of law number 26/1996 has been issued and published in the official gazette. He wants to know if the ministry has specified the fees for telecommunication services and subscriptions and a policy for increasing the fees annually as stated in the law. He also inquired if the ministry has mandated the telecommunication companies to offer the best services to the public.

Clarification
Al-Muslim also sought clarifications on the announcement made by the minister in his meeting with the Public Amenities Committee at the Parliament recently on charging mobile phone calls by second, instead of by minute. He wondered why this has not been implemented until now.
He urged the minister to quickly respond to his queries and take all the required steps to protect the public from the unscrupulous activities of some telecommunication companies that have kept on increasing the charges for the services they offer.
In another development, MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri called for the establishment of two specialized health centers to provide treatment for the victims of road accidents in the northern and southern parts of the country. He also stressed the need to improve the rescue operations and prevent any delay in transporting the victims to Ibn Sina Hospital in Al-Sabah Medical Zone.
Al-Muwaizri argued Kuwait is one of the countries with the highest accident rate in the world and Ibn Sina Hospital can no longer handle the mounting pressure.
He warned many road accident victims die due to the long period it takes for the doctors to reach the remote areas.
He said the establishment of the two centers will cost around KD70 million — the same amount that Kuwait spends every year for the treatment of traffic accident victims abroad.