SMEs warn of stillborn new economy

This news has been read 67821 times!

WE CAN’T BREATHE … SPEAKER DELIVERS ‘SMALLFRY’ MESSAGE

Union criticizes latest Health hammer-blow

KUWAIT CITY, Feb 7: National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim had another meeting with the owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) covered by the decision of the Cabinet to close certain establishments in order to curb the spread of coronavirus, affirming their message has been delivered to the concerned authorities and that their demands will be taken into consideration. “No one is against any decision to protect the public from coronavirus, but it is unacceptable to close establishments without compensating the owners for the damages they incur. Regulations must be enforced properly and those who strictly follow the regulations should not be punished,” the Speaker asserted.

All shops pulled down their shutters in Souk Al-Mubarakiya as the clock struck 8 pm on Sunday, Feb 7 in anticipation of the new rules imposed by the Ministry of Health.

He also affirmed that his talks with HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid have been fruitful, as the latter showed willingness to compromise and promised to revise the decision. He said the prime minister informed him that the closure of mosques is not on the table as they are fully committed to the regulations, particularly social distancing. He added the sports activities should not be suspended, considering the international sports organizations recommended allowing these activities to continue provided the health regulations are strictly followed.

He pointed out that when sports clubs are closed, athletes usually resort to social gatherings and diwaniyas where they are more likely to get infected with the virus. He called on the concerned authorities to thoroughly study the social and economic consequences before taking any decision. He said the representatives of the owners of SMEs will meet a number of former ministers and MPs on Monday to hear their opinions on the issue.

Commenting on the same issue, MP Hamdan Al-Azmi argued that decisions must be respected but a thorough study should be conducted prior to taking such action to avoid harming the citizens and expatriates. He stressed the need to compensate the citizens affected by the closure decision.

In a related development, MP Mehalhal Al-Mudaf has proposed immediate suspension of the decision and to form a committee whose members are from the ministries of Finance, Commerce and Industry to lay down a mechanism for compensating those who suffered from damages due to decisions related to coronavirus since March 2020.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the parliamentary Interior and Defense Affairs Committee MP Mubarak Al-Ajmi disclosed that they discussed Sunday the bill on amending the law on foreigners residency. He said the committee also discussed the proposal of the government to amend the Traffic Law with officials of the General Traffic Department (GTD) at the Ministry of Interior. He revealed the committee rejected the suggestion to increase fines for traffic violations.

He added the committee received seven bills on amending the Elections Law, indicating an agreement has been reached to hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss these bills and prepare a report on their best features. He affirmed the committee is keen on finalizing the report for inclusion in the agenda of the upcoming session. He said the Ministry of Interior has been invited to the meeting.

Moreover, MP Muhannad Al-Sayer asked interim Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmed Nasser Al-Muhammad if there has been an agreement with the Egyptian Ministry of Immigration to facilitate the entry of as many as possible Egyptians to Kuwait prior to the implementation of the decision to ban the entry of foreigners to the country for two weeks as one way of curbing the spread of corona. If yes, he wants to know the number of Egyptians who benefited from this agreement.

MP Musaed Al-Ardi also forwarded queries to the interim foreign affairs minister about the construction works at the headquarters of the ministry in the last seven years. He asked about the total cost of these construction works and offers of companies which participated in the bidding for these projects.

Tenure
He inquired as well about the number of armored vehicles purchased within the same period, total cost, offers of bidding companies, and justifications for appointing the former head of a Kuwaiti diplomatic delegation as ambassador although he was involved in anomalies during his tenure in an African country.

On the other hand, MP Yousef Al-Ghareeb submitted a bill to amend Civil Service Law number 15/1979 to allow public sector employees to convert their unused annual leave days to cash. The bill stipulates that the calculation of leave encashment will be based on the current salary of the employees.

MP Ali Al-Qattan submitted a proposal for the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to issue a decision on nationalizing jobs in Kuwaiti health offices abroad in coordination with the Ministry of Health. He emphasized the need to replace foreign workers with Kuwaitis in these offices. Meanwhile, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises in Kuwait (ASMEK) denounced the government’s decision to close salons, health clubs and other commercial establishments categorized as small and medium enterprises (SMEs); asserting this will lead to the collapse of SMEs considering the losses they have been incurring since the corona pandemic started, not to mention the continuous closure of nurseries and entertainment centers for children, reports Annahar daily.

In its statement, the association called on the government to be careful in taking decisions and study the conditions of companies that have borne all the burdens without getting compensation from any government and private agency. “We would like to emphasize that the postponement of installments for the owners of small enterprises is limited to those financed by the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises Development and Welfare; while others are not registered in the fund so they did not receive any government support and did not benefit from any sector. This is in addition to the accumulation of debts in commercial banks, monthly rents, workers’ salaries and other expenses,” the association asserted.

The association affirmed that salons, health clubs and other commercial establishments have been strictly complying with the health regulations; hence, allowing them to continue their operations is the collective demand of the owners of SMEs. The association also appealed to His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid to reconsider this decision and to take into account its impact on the national economy. The government does not interfere in the claims for compensation by companies which incurred losses due to the pandemic. The global and health variables necessitate the concerted efforts of everyone until the economy of Kuwait recovers, the association concluded.

Decisions
In another related development, member of the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Union for Restaurants, Cafes and Catering Services Nawaf Nasser Al-Arbash described the recent decisions issued by the Cabinet after its meeting last week as surprising, especially since they came at a time when restaurants, catering companies and cafes had begun to recover from the financial losses caused by the measures taken last year to combat the spread of COVID-19, reports Al-Anba daily.

In a press statement, Al-Arbash explained that the restaurants, cafes and catering sector was one of the first sectors to be affected by the closure that began in mid-March 2020 and extended until the end of August 2020. This closure period exceeded more than half a year and caused significant financial losses to this sector.

The union believes that all the decisions imposed by the state are in the interest of the public, especially with health being a top priority. However, the economy is also an integral part of society, especially since there are families whose livelihood depends on restaurants, cafes, and other economic sectors. Even though the recent decisions of the Cabinet did not include a complete closure like the one witnessed last year, but instead reduced the restaurant hours to 8:00 pm, there is a segment of restaurants that will be affected by such a reduction, especially those that do not have delivery services, but provide dine-in services only.

This represents a good segment of the affected restaurants, which were among the last to resume work after a long interruption without any revenue. Limiting restaurants’ working hours in the evening would cause them to lose about 60 percent of their income, and return to the circle of losses again, even though they did not overcome the consequences of the previous crisis yet.

In the same context, Al-Arbash affirmed that food supply companies are another segment of the affected companies, as these companies did not work at all since the beginning of the crisis, because they serve only for special occasions, which have completely stopped, adding that there are projects that are completely based on this type of activities. He also touched on the so-called owners of Chapter Five, representing the segment of citizens who left their jobs and entered the field of commercial activity such that their livelihoods are now based on their trade.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff and Agencies

This news has been read 67821 times!

Related Articles

Back to top button

Advt Blocker Detected

Kindly disable the Ad blocker

Verified by MonsterInsights