publish time

28/12/2020

author name Arab Times

publish time

28/12/2020

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 28: The crisis of non-renewal of US army workers’ contracts has resurfaced, as the State Department has received a complaint from the United States Embassy in Kuwait about confusion in renewing work permits for the workers at the American base in the country, reports Al-Qabas daily.

According to informed sources, the operating companies also complained to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they were not granted the right to renew their work on government contracts belonging to Kuwait's Ministry of Defense due to the bureaucracy agreed in advance with the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), the US Army and the Kuwait Army's Chief of Staff.

PAM is planning to hold a meeting this week with representatives of the Kuwait Army's Chief of Staff and the US Army concerning the confusion over the renewal of non-Kuwaiti and American workers’ contracts registered under the contracts of the US Army.

Serious damage

The sources went on to explain that the damage to workers registered on US military contracts began last August. Until now the permits have not been renewed, although the transactions were proceeding normally before that. PAM requested the transfer of workers from government contract files to the main file of the operating company, although the contract is continuous and has not stopped. This costs the companies operating in logistics services KD 410 per year, and the number of affected workers is more than 9,000.

A legal memorandum was also submitted to the Minister of Economic Development in his capacity as being responsible for PAM regarding the confusion of US army contracts, especially since PAM had in February 2019 already verified the integrity of the 12 companies operating in the service of the US Army.

Meet services

The damage has now occurred to many projects in the base, because of the companies' inability to fully meet the services due to the refusal to renew work permits or issue work permits to non-Kuwaiti or American workers in these companies.

In addition, the spokesperson of the US Embassy in Kuwait revealed that there is continuous follow-up with government agencies in Kuwait to ensure the continuity of the execution of the existing projects.

He said, "The US embassy continues to communicate with relevant ministries and government agencies to ensure the continuity of existing projects in Kuwait, according to deadlines, and the protection of American contractors who work on these projects in accordance with Kuwaiti laws and regulations."