Force sponsors to shoulder cost of evacuating ‘law violating’ workers

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Queries sent on method of determining actual manpower needs

KUWAIT CITY, May 9: MP Ahmed Al-Fadl has submitted a proposal to obligate companies and sponsors to shoulder the cost of sheltering and evacuating their workers who violated the Residency Law.

Al-Fadl denounced countries which refused to receive their citizens and pay for their plane tickets, clarifying he respects the citizens of these countries but he will not tolerate the attitude of their governments.

He stressed the need for Kuwait to take stringent measures against these countries, as they blackmailed Kuwait and presented the meanest image when they abandoned their citizens and violated the principles of friendship and Arabism.

He unveiled his plan to respond to such an attitude in the upcoming parliamentary session, during which he will call on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to bear its responsibility and suspend any economic cooperation with those countries. “We do not need those who do not support us in difficult times,” he concluded.

On the other hand, MP Hamdan Al-Azmi forwarded a number of queries to Minister of Social Affairs and State Minister for Economic Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel on the method of determining the actual manpower needs of companies and institutions.

Contracts He requested for a list of companies with more than 150 workers, number of expatriate workers who came to Kuwait in the last five years according to contracts signed with the private sector, number of companies referred to the Public Prosecution for involvement in visa trading in the last five years, and companies which were shut down for violating the Residency Law.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee discussed Thursday the bill on electronic court session notification for litigants in the presence of National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim, Minister of Justice Bader Al-Adasani, the Ministry of Justice undersecretary, a number of other ministry officials, director general of the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) and other senior officials. Committee Chairman MP Khalid Al-Shatti disclosed all those present at the meeting reached an agreement on the bill, which will be referred to the Assembly to be tabled for discussion in its session scheduled for Tuesday.

Al-Shatti said the bill stipulates the use of advanced means of communication like e-mail and other applications to inform the litigants about the date of court session and other information they need. This service is for individuals, companies, members of diplomatic delegations and in absentia litigants, he added. The bill gives power to the judge to exempt some cases from the electronic notification, such as the elderly and illiterate who will be informed about the court session date through traditional ways like postal mail, the lawmaker revealed.

Bill
He said PACI recently launched the ‘My Identity’ application to pave way for the implementation of the bill. He explained that citizens can obtain information about their lawsuits and execution of court verdicts simply by inputting their civil ID number on the platform.

If the bill is approved, it will be enforced one year later — after completion of necessary procedures by the Ministry of Justice, PACI and other concerned institutions, he added.

In another development, MP Muhammad Al-Dallal forwarded queries to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh about contracts signed by the Interior Ministry in 2014 and 2015 to purchase Tamba boats for the Coastguard.

He disclosed his queries are based on information he received about the import of such boats, indicating these boats do not meet the technical specifications laid down by the concerned committee.

He asked about the number of Tamba boats which are in good condition at present and those not in service, if the specifications of these boats changed after signing the contracts, if there are technical opinions supporting the changes, if the changes were made in response to the request of the ministry or the concerned company, and if these changes affected the price.

He also inquired if the ministry took decisions on variation of orders, and if monitoring institutions like the State Audit Bureau (SAB) and Financial Controllers Bureau were informed about the variation of orders or not.

In addition, Al-Dallal said the period of total lockdown is too long; so he expects clashes between the people and securitymen, because many will be forced to go out to procure their needs, particularly in areas experiencing unusual conditions.

He stressed the importance of allowing the operation of establishments that offer services like fixing electricity and air conditioning units, as well as plumbers. He also emphasized the need to shorten the period of total lockdown and allowing the Assembly to convene on Tuesday. Echoing Al-Dallal’s view on the need to hold the parliamentary session, MP Abdullah Al-Kandari cited Article 69 of the Constitution allows the Assembly to convene during the period of emergency.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff

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