KUWAIT CITY, June 28: National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim has clarified that the Assembly will continue its activities as usual until the Amiri Decree on its dissolution is issued. He said certain steps should be taken prior to the issuance of the decree, including the formation of the new government which will then refer the Amiri Decree to the Assembly.

He stressed that the dissolution of the Assembly is the absolute right of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah. On the other hand, MP Bader Al-Mullah forwarded queries to Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Muhammad about the plan to install fingerprint machines for employees in Kuwaiti embassies and consulates abroad to ensure they arrive and leave the workplace on time. If this is true; he wants to know if the employees will receive overtime pay in case they report for work beyond the official working hours, cost of installing the machines and if there is a budget for this.

Tasks
He requested for copies of decisions assigning the deputy foreign affairs minister to carry out overseas tasks since March 7, 2021 till date; if the number of days for the completion of the overseas task matches the days he received the corresponding allowances; and if all the tasks assigned to him require his presence or if some tasks can be assigned to any of the minister’s assistants. He asked why the ministry delayed the payment of plane ticket allowance to employees in Kuwaiti embassies and consulates abroad, indicating some of them received the allowance six months after the specified period.

He requested for a comprehensive report, including a comparison of the plane ticket allowance and actual ticket price from 2018 to 2021; and copies of complaints that the diplomatic delegations sent to the ministry about the difference between the allowance and the actual price of tickets in 2020 and 2021. He inquired if the ministry conducted studies on protecting the personal information of employees in diplomatic missions and their families, considering that foreign technicians have access to the automated system. He wants to know the company that signed a contract with the ministry for the establishment, administration and maintenance of the automated system; value of the contract and location of the servers.

Al-Mullah also asked Minister of Finance and State Minister for Economic and Investment Affairs Abdulwahab Al- Rashead to submit copies of correspondences between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kuwait Airways about the prices of plane tickets for employees in diplomatic missions and their families since 2018 till date; and if the ministries of Defense, Health, Education and Higher Education which have representatives in the diplomatic missions requested for plane ticket quotation from Kuwait Airways.

MP Mehalhal Al-Mudaf submitted queries to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Oil and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Muhammad Al-Fares about the decision of the Council of Ministers to receive the complaint of KGL Logistics Services Company against the resolution of the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) to ban the company from participating in public tenders for two years. He asked if the Council of Ministers is aware of the final verdicts issued by the Constitutional and Cassation courts on the dismissal of cases that the company filed against CAPT.

He forwarded queries to Minister of Public Works, Electricity and Water and Renewable Energy Ali Al-Mousa about the decision to grant land measuring two million square meters to a certain company for the purpose of establishing a camel farm even if the Municipal Council rejected the company’s request. He asked if the company submitted a feasibility study or if it was required to supply the market with a certain quantity of its products per month or per year. He wants to know the number of plots distributed since the establishment of the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR), activity and quantity of products in each plot.

MP Osama Al-Shaheen asked all ministers to submit a list of frontline incentive beneficiaries in their ministries and subsidiaries, number of beneficiaries who have yet to receive the incentive, and if every ministry formed a committee tasked to deal with complaints regarding the incentive. Meanwhile, Al-Ghanim sent cables to Speaker of the Senate in Jordan (Majlis Al Aayan) Faisal Al-Fayez and Speaker of the House of Representatives Abdulkareem Al-Daghmi to express condolences over the victims of the toxic gas leak at Aqaba Port. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff