Tap Indonesia for domestics, urges MP

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Legislators prepare grilling request

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 1: “The largest open market for domestic workers is Indonesia. We previously tried its labor force and they were good but the relationship was cut off for several reasons,” says MP Khalil Al-Saleh.

In a press statement, Al-Saleh disclosed Indonesia has laid down conditions for the return of its workers to Kuwait; the most important of which is their salary should not be less than KD 100. He urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kuwait Development Fund to take the necessary steps in order to hire Indonesian domestic workers once again as this will reduce the recruitment cost to KD 300.

He pointed out that India and the Philippines are favoring European countries and the United States of America, especially the educated workforce, because these countries offer salaries up to $1,000.

He said entering other domestic labor markets, such as Africa, is not in line with Kuwaiti customs and traditions. He believes that if the problems with Indonesia are resolved, there will be an advanced stage in terms of reducing the recruitment cost and this necessitates a decision by the government.

Meanwhile, MP Khalid Al-Otaibi has confirmed that he, along with MPs Mubarak Al- Hajraf and Al-Hamidi Al-Subaie, will soon present an interpellation request against Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Hind al-Sabeeh.

Al-Otaibi revealed the interpellation points will be revised, clarifying those related to Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) will be deleted because the corporation is now under the supervision of Finance Minister Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf. He explained his interpellation points include irregularities in the corporation and he previously forwarded questions on these points but many have not been answered. He said he discussed the issue with Al-Hajraf and he agreed to hand over the documents in his possession while the minister promised to study them and take appropriate action.

Furthermore, Chairman of the Budgets and Final Accounts Committee MP Adnan AbdulSamad said the panel met in the presence of Education and Higher Education Minister Dr Hamed Al-Azmi; as well as representatives of the ministries of Higher Education, Defense, Foreign Affairs and Finance, Central Agency for Information Technology, State Audit Bureau and Financial Controllers Agency to discuss electronic, financial and administrative issues in certain government agencies and their offices abroad.

During the meeting, the committee pointed out that the delay in the electronic link for many years has had financial implications which proved to be burdensome on the budgets and final accounts. The committee stressed the payments and cash allocations abroad increased by almost 50 percent — about KD 2.2 billion, and these were not settled through the appropriate accounting system even though they were already disbursed.

The committee’s previous reports highlighted the gravity of this situation due to non-compliance of government agencies, which have representative offices abroad, to the directive to pay only what has been approved by the concerned authorities.

By Abubakar A. Ibrahim Arab Times Staff

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