KUWAIT CITY, Nov 2: MP Adnan Abdulsamad has submitted a bill to impose an annual fee of KD50 per square meter on the owners of more than one house or whose property measures more than 2,000 square meters in model residential areas. The lawmaker pointed out that the bill is aimed at stopping increase in the prices of real estate properties, as well as the exorbitant fees for renting houses and flats in such areas. He clarified that citizens with more than two houses and those with large houses measuring more than 2,000 square meters are exempted from the annual fee if their houses are for personal use. He said the bill, once approved, will contribute to ongoing efforts to control real estate prices; which have increased remarkably because of the illegal practices of some individuals and companies keen on gaining high profits even if it is done illegally.

MP Fayez Al-Jomhour has proposed granting housing allowance to citizens covered by Law No. 2/2015, which applies to citizens who sold their houses. He said the rent allowance should be paid to these citizens until they receive the houses allocated for them as per the relevant laws. MP Osama Al-Shaheen submitted a proposal to include banking sector workers in the difficult jobs category. He argued that banking jobs require full concentration and extra caution to avoid mistakes, which could result in big losses. He added these jobs also require spending a long time in the office, indicating this negatively affects the mood and health of employees.

On the other hand, MP Osama Al-Menawer forwarded queries to Minister of State for Municipality and Housing Affairs and Urban Development Shaya Abdulrahman Al-Shaya about the employees at the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) who did not report for work during the Corona crisis and were removed from the list of those eligible for the excellent performance bonus. He wants to know if the rating of these employees went down because of their absence during the crisis, steps taken to protect the rights of employees who were asked to stay at home during the crisis as they are suffering from chronic diseases which make them more vulnerable to the virus, and if some of such workers were exempted in order to be included in the list of excellent performance bonus recipients.

MP Osama Al-Shaheen asked Minister of Health Dr Basel Al-Sabah about the laws on prohibiting pharmacists from opening and managing more than one pharmacy. He wants to know the measures taken regarding violations if any, taking into consideration that some pharmacists own or manage many pharmacies. He added some foreign companies own three chains of pharmacies, disclosing this has negatively affected medicine security in the country and led to high prices of medicines due to monopoly. He cited as an example the recent advertisement of a pharmacy, stating it has 62 branches in the country.

MP Mehalhal Al-Mudaf forwarded queries to Minister of Oil and Higher Education Dr Muhammad Al-Fares about the graduates of the College of Public Health at Kuwait University who hold bachelor, masteral and doctoral degrees. He wants to know the number of these graduates since the college was established in 2013 till date, number of teaching staff compared to the number of students, and expenses including salaries, allowances and other benefits granted to the these teachers. In another development, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim sent a cable to greet his Panamanian counterpart Crispiano Adams on the National Day of Panama. He also sent a similar cable to greet Speaker of the House of Assembly in Commonwealth Dominica Joseph Isaac on the National Day of the latter’s county. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff