Pandemic has a silver lining

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WE call upon His Highness the Prime Minister and his entire Cabinet to be grateful to the COVID-19 pandemic for exposing many skeletons in the cupboard and putting them in front of the executive authority in order for it to take up its role decisively — especially in relation to the marginal workforce and visa traders (human traffickers) who have tarnished the image of Kuwait.

If only there was a sincere approach in dealing with this issue without yielding to any considerations other than the national interest and security, and if such sincerity was in the minds of all officials, the situation concerning the marginal workforce wouldn’t have existed.

This crisis has exposed shocking facts in a country that is supposed to be a state of law and institutions. They include existence of residential areas without any hospitals or clinics, cooperative societies and schools, and presence of overcrowded buildings and apartments in areas designated for families, not bachelors.

Worst of all, there are apartments that rent out bed spaces and even charge on hourly basis for individuals to sleep in such spaces. All this is contrary to the most basic humanitarian and legal rules. For example, is it reasonable that about 45 people live in one apartment?!

Furthermore, there are areas that are completely under the radar of the concerned authorities but absconders hide in these areas along with residency law violators who manage to stay illegally in the country for years.

Of course, such workforce should not have to bear the responsibility alone, as the officials who conspired with human traffickers for issuing entry visas also share this responsibility with the workers. After these workers received the visas and came to the country, they were thrown on the streets without jobs or even shelter.

To make matters worse, the concerned authorities failed to follow up on them in order to know under what conditions they are living in this country.

In almost all the countries that need foreign workforce, there is a system in place whereby cities and towns are constructed to accommodate the workforce, and these locations are usually fenced and guarded. However, this is not seen in Kuwait.

Talks about labor cities and towns have been ongoing for quite some time but never materialized, the reason being some individuals are benefitting from the status quo of this vital issue.

Unfortunately, Kuwait did not work on regulating the most basic rights of the foreign manpower it utilizes. This exacerbated the problem. Ideas were rejected — for example, the idea of ensuring every project and factory should provide their workforce with housing facilities close to the project and factory sites. This is the system applied in most of the countries in the world.

Because such a simple idea was ignored, most of the project and factory owners suffered because the lack of housing for their employees close to the project and factory sites increased the cost of transportation, which the citizens ended up paying.

Indeed, His Highness the Prime Minister should perhaps thank this pandemic which, due to the exceptional circumstances, kept MPs and influential people away from interfering in the work of the government. This lack of interference will help in addressing the problem from its core.

Not taking advantage of this historical opportunity will aggravate the problem in the future to the extent of becoming a predicament, and will worsen its negative effects on the society.

Cities for foreign manpower have become a necessity. Currently there are temporary shelters for violators of the residency law who are awaiting deportation. Why not make these shelters permanent labor cities after the crisis ends and distributing these areas among project owners to accommodate their employees?

Why not allow factory owners to build apartments near their factory sites to accommodate their employees, given that all of this will save a lot for Kuwait?

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

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