MP urges subsidy cut-off for monthly salary over KD 5,000

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Private sector job support in focus

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 15: MP Abdullah Al- Kandari says the attention given by the last government towards the country’s financial status was insufficient and did not match its level of importance, which led to the government receiving plenty of notices, warnings, and reminders from Parliaments “but in vain because the government’s efforts on this file remained weak”.

The MP called for serious actions to be taken to put an end to what he described as “unnecessary bleeding of sovereign national funds” in order to avoid reaching a financial state of definitive deficit. He sent his statement to His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al- Hamad Al-Sabah, calling for his new government to firmly address the level of corruption in the country through either the concerned authorities or the parliamentary committees.

MP Al-Kandari said, “It is unacceptable for the state to continue pumping billions of dinars into projects at a time when it is tightening its financial grip on citizens”.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Parliament’s Committee for Budgets and Final Accounts MP Adnan Abdulsamad initiated a directive to establish more comprehensive regulations on the private sector national manpower fi- nancial support, proposing that any citizen who works in the private sector should not be entitled to this allocation if their monthly salary is above KD 5,000.

He explained that there should be some sort of limitation in the allocation of this financial support, as it is illogical for employees who receives monthly salary of around KD 18,000 to benefit from this support, as its purpose is to promote the private sector and motivate citizens to work in sectors other than the public sector.

Furthermore, Chairman of the Parliament’s State Priorities Committee MP Ahmad Al- Fadhl revealed that his committee is on the verge of submitting a letter to the National Assembly to request the discussion of the unemployment issue, and to the government for it to provide its resolution plans during the upcoming session expected to take place on Dec 24 if the announcement of the new Cabinet is made before that date.

He explained that one of the most difficult tasks the new government will have to address within the next five years is creating job opportunities for more than 120,000 unemployed citizens. Due to this reason, a clear governmental vision should be made available to support the current efforts such as the increasing the average project approvals of the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises from 130 to 1,500.

He added, “If the National Assembly is able to approve the bill on the northern financial district, it would contribute to providing an abundance of job opportunities.

The same applies if the oil sector is able to expand on its petrochemical industries and open new doors for the Kuwaiti youth”. In another development, MP Saleh Al-Ashour called for a press conference to discuss three main issues. He talked about the Complaints Committee which was formed based on a decision issued by the Cabinet to receive complaints submitted by companies against the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT).

MP Al-Ashour explained that the decisions issued by the committee are not being executed by CAPT even though the decisions of the committee are obligatory for CAPT based on article 78 of the tenders’ Law No. 49/2019. Instead of executing the committee’s decisions, CAPT refers those decisions to the Fatwa and Legislation Department.

He revealed that the decisions are not being executed because of the interference of some influential individuals. MP Al-Ashour addressed His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid to issue directives in this regard to CAPT, urging it to execute the decisions of the Complaints Committee, since he is in charge until the new government is formed.

He hinted that perhaps the next interpellation will be based on this issue. Also, MP Al-Ashour highlighted the issue of illegal residents (Bedoun), requesting the release of the Bedoun residents who were detained for demanding their rights. He stressed that the current attitude of the government does not reveal its seriousness in finding a solution to the Bedoun issue, affirming that detaining those who demand their rights puts Kuwait in an embarrassing position with the world particularly the United Nations. He also criticized what he called “a media campaign targeting the Bedoun residents”.

MP Al-Ashour stressed the need to solve this issue for the sake of social stability and national security, warning against the implementation of inappropriate solutions. With reference to Article 78 of the Constitution, Al-Ashour insisted that the new government should be formed within two weeks. He said, “We are in the fifth week since the last parliamentary session, which was held in Nov 12.

This constitutional violation can result in many problems including suspension of appointments and reshufflings, delays in filling the vacancies of senior positions, and suspension of discussions of bills and creation of laws”. Al-Ashour called upon His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid to expedite the formation of the new government. In addition, MP Mohammad Hadi Al-Huwaila has submitted a proposal to the

By Ahmed Al-Naqeeb and Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff

This news has been read 20921 times!