KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: The Parliamentary Financial and Economic Affairs Committee Sunday unanimously approved draft bills on the accrued interests on consumer loans and called on the state to write off the interest on citizens’ consumer loans and reschedule the payment of loans from Jan 1, 2002 to April 1, 2008, and give every citizen KD 1,000 who did not take the loan in this period to help them settle their financial obligations to the state or to receive money in cash.

 The rapporteur of the committee Safa Al-Hashim said the committee held a meeting Sunday and discussed all draft bills related to writing off the citizens loans.

She stressed, “In the past we met with Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Central Bank and Chairman of the Banks Club and we were completely unsatisfied with some issues.

“We were not even satisfied with the government’s point of view which prompted the committee to unanimously agree on the opinion that the government should settle the citizens’ loans from the state Treasury.”

 She added the committee also agreed that a unit be created in the Central Bank of Kuwait to receive complaints from borrowers. She said the committee also agreed that the name of the so-called “defaulters fund” be changed to “family fund” so that any citizen including the retirees who want to benefit from it should be given a chance to do so but after fulfilling certain conditions and regulations.

For his part, member of the committee, MP Ahmed Lari stressed the law on addressing the loans issue which the committee approved Sunday ensures fairness among citizens. He urged the government to cooperate with the Parliament and not reject it after its approval by the Parliament.

He explained the law, thought not entirely fair, achieves some kind of fairness “because any citizen who doesn’t benefit from the law will benefit from obtaining one thousand dinars.”

In another development, MP Abdullah Al-Tamimi Sunday assured that he expects Kuwaitis to be granted KD 2,000 in commemoration of the upcoming national holidays in February. “There are positive indications that the grant will not be less than KD 2,000,” he stated.

Al-Tamimi said he had submitted a proposal in that regard - KD 2,000 for every Kuwaiti citizen in all sectors, including those retired and those with special needs.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly Human Rights and Bedoun Committee held a meeting with representatives of the Zakat House and the Ministry of Justice to discuss the monthly financial assistance that should be granted to bedoun families.

Rapporteur of the committee, Taher Al-Failakawi said according to the explanation given by the Zakat House officials to the committee 1,568 bedoun families received a monthly assistance of KD 550 (maximum) per family during 2012.

He said the money spent for this purpose was KD 4.637 million. He added apart from this the Zakat House also offers assistance to 2,000 families who receive a monthly ration, in adding to the costs of DNA which so far has cost the House KD 1 million.

He said the House also paid tuition fees for bedoun who are studying at the Nursing Institute, in addition to covering the costs of health insurance and some percent of study fees. He noted the House also grants monthly assistance to 8,520 unemployed bedoun men who have a family.

He explained the Zakat House will need KD 38 million annually to pay KD 250 monthly to bedoun family men who are unemployed.

On another issue, the Rapporteur of Interior and Defense Committee, Abdullah Al-Tameemi disclosed the committee Sunday prepared its priorities and referred them to the Office of the Parliament.

Al-Tameemi said this followed a meeting in which the committee prepared its top five priorities that it hopes will be approved by the Parliament in the current legislative term.

He explained the first of the priorities relates to a draft bill on military indemnity (at the end of military service) for individuals and noncommissioned officers similar to officers.

 The second priority is the proposed amendment bill on the one vote system of the election law by adding some areas which are not included in the current five constituencies.

The third is related to a draft bill to naturalize 4,000 bedoun in 2013. The fourth priority is a draft proposal to promote noncommissioned officers who hold university certificates similar to other officers but on condition a certificate is attained after one year and five years of service in the Interior Ministry.
The last priority is related to a draft proposal to reduce the period of promoting from ten to five years for noncommissioned officers in the Defense Ministry similar to their counterparts in the Interior Ministry.

Agencies add:
A draft law on the establishment of a telecommunications authority was discussed by the parliament’s public utility committee on Sunday and will be forwarded to the National Assembly for a vote, Minister of Communication and Minister of State for Housing Affairs Salem Al-Utheina said here.

The minister said, after the conclusion of the meeting, that the draft law was also reviewed by the parliament’s committee for transport and traffic affairs, noting that the establishment of the authority would rest upon the National Assembly approval.

Al-Uthaina opened earlier the 32rd Information Technology (IT), communication, and integrated solutions (Infoconnect and infobiz 2013) joint-exhibition. The exhibition is showcasing the latest in IT and communication applications and devices.

The event is co-organized by the Ministry of Communication and the info-center company and is held at Kuwait International Fair ground in Mishref till February second.