MP submits queries regarding medicine warehouses

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Panel votes against govt’s decision to return Early Retirement Bill to National Assembly

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 13: The parliamentary Financial and Economic Affairs Committee has unanimously voted against the government’s decision to return the Early Retirement Bill to the National Assembly. Committee Chairman MP Salaah Khourshed disclosed the government decided to refer the bill back to the Assembly due to two articles – one of which mandates the government to shoulder two percent of the retirement allocation and the other stipulates illegibility for retirement salary after 30 years in service but the government has no right to force such employees to retire.

During the committee’s meeting with the government, it was highlighted that many parts of the bill contravene the Constitution; in addition to issues related to the abovementioned articles so the government decided to return bill to the Assembly. Khourshed argued the revision of any article will result in a new bill which will require another reading at the Assembly; thus, he appealed to his colleagues who may have an input over the matter to step forward. He pointed out the government’s contention over the two articles is up for debate, yet it did not present any vision or alternative other than shouldering only one percent of the allocation while the retiree shoulders the other one percent.

Revealed
Meanwhile, committee member MP Safa Al-Hashem revealed all the answers given by the government during the meeting were almost superfi-cial and the statistics it provided is not applicable, especially on matters concerning the Public Institution for Social Security and then it talked about “expected deficiency.”

In another development, MP Thamer Al-Suwait submitted a number of queries to Health Minister Dr Bassel Al-Sabah regarding the medicine warehouses. He said he obtained information that a large quantity of expired medicines worth millions of Kuwaiti dinars are still stored in these warehouses.

He wants to know the exact cost of the expired medicines and requested for copies of periodic reports submitted by warehouse managers and supervisors. He also asked if the ministry took measures to distribute these medicines to the market. If yes, the MP demanded for a copy of correspondence in this regard, while demanding for thorough explanation of procedures and protocols followed in handling these medicines.

By Ahmed Al-Naqeeb Arab Times Staff

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