Stay limits eyed to cut expats – Kuwait seeks demographic balance

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KUWAIT CITY, Sept 5: The State Ministry for Planning and Development Affairs has prepared a strategy to address the lopsided population structure issue through the medium-term development plan for fiscals 2015/2016 to 2020/2019 with demographics as the focus in the field of human development, says Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and State Minister for Planning and Development Hind Al-Subaih.

In response to the query of MP Khalil Abdullah, Al-Subaih attributed this problem to the rising number of expatriate workers in the private sector. She disclosed the ministry intends to take various steps to balance the population structure for the benefit of citizens. She said the government intends to limit the number of expatriates and their years of stay in Kuwait without affecting the development projects.

She explained such steps are aimed at ensuring the expatriate population is lower than that of Kuwaitis. She also unveiled plans to impose restrictions on the recruitment of domestic workers, tighten oversight procedures, hold accountable all those involved in visa trading, and implement stricter conditions for determining the actual manpower needs of companies.

She went on to say the target is to adjust the expatriate population growth rate in order to reduce, if not eliminate, marginal workers; while taking into consideration the needs of the workforce in various economic sectors and setting recruitment criteria for domestic workers. She added the estimated number of workers for the development plan is 68,317 individuals annually.

Talking about Bedouns, the minister pointed out that the problem with this category is related to security, not housing. She added the 2011 census revealed that the number of Bedouns totaled 101,263 — about 52,000 males and 48,000 females Meanwhile, MP Mohammed Tana Al- Anazi has forwarded questions to State Minister for Housing Affairs Yasir Aboul about the delayed signing of the second contract (infrastructure) for Al-Mutla residential city project.

He wants to know reasons behind the delay, number of stages in terms of the implementation of the project, and number of contracts which have yet to be signed. Furthermore, Al-Anazi asked Minister of Electricity and Water Ahmed Al-Jassar regarding the power supply in housing projects. He inquired about the mechanism for supplying electricity to these areas and details of international partnerships if any.

Emergency
In another development, MP Ahmad Al-Qudaibi revealed that he has been coordinating with some of his colleagues to collect signatures to request for an emergency session immediately after the Eid Al-Adha holidays to discuss the decision of the government to increase fuel prices hike without taking into consideration the economic reforms agreed upon earlier and the consequences of this decision.

He lamented the fuel price hike happened amidst the deterioration of government services, failure to implement economic reforms and prevalence of corruption. He regarded the decision as a new phase of the government’s misadventures in managing the affairs of the State.

He argued that saving KD 150 million through the fuel price hike does not have anything to do with the diversification of income sources previously discussed by the government, so the new method for achieving that is digging into the pockets of citizens.

He claimed there is no guarantee from the government that the money collected through the fuel price hike will not go to wrong channels of expenditures and fixing deficit as it will most likely be spent on tenders for the benefit of some people, violations, wastage of public funds and overseas medical treatment.

Talking about the effects of the fuel price hike on the prices of other commodities, the lawmaker disclosed he raised questions in this regard two days before the grilling of the Commerce and Industry minister on fixing and monitoring prices. He alleged the minister waited until the National Assembly went on recess before canceling the decision. He also expressed dissatisfaction that some of his colleagues are now complaining about lack of monitoring in the market although they contributed to the price hikes.

Meanwhile, the concerned officials should start looking into alternatives in scheduling the next parliamentary election in order to avoid holding it during Ramadan or in summer which will most likely affect the rate of participation due to the scorching heat while most citizens are out of the country, say sources close to the Parliament. Sources explained that if the Constitution and verdict of the Constitutional Court are considered, the election should be conducted on July 23, 2017.

Source said there are three possible scenarios in this regard: First is for the lawmakers to resign en masse at an agreed period so the election is held before summer. Second is to delay the election until September 2017 when majority of citizens on holiday abroad would have returned to participate in the electoral process. Third, which is not in the hands of lawmakers, is to dissolve the National Assembly and call for early election.

By Abubakar A. Ibrahim Arab Times Staff

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