KUWAIT CITY, Aug 19: The Civil Service Commission (CSC) announced that it has completed examining and approving the lists of those eligible for the reward for the COVID-19 frontliners and the supporting ranks in several bodies, reports Al-Qabas daily. These bodies are the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Public Works, the Public Authority for Road and Land Transport, and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training. The lists were sent to the Ministry of Finance on Thursday in preparation for the completion of the necessary procedures. With this announcement, the total lists approved so far will be 29, while the remaining entities will soon provide CSC with the lists of those who deserve such rewards. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has approved the incentive for employees involved in the first and second round of examinations in the previous academic year 2020/2021 – a total of KD1.4 million, reports Al-Rai daily quoting a reliable source from the educational sector.

According to the source, the Financial Sector on Thursday deposited this incentive to the beneficiaries; including those who corrected the examination papers, supervised the transfer of boxes of examination papers from the printing press to the schools, and the chairpersons and members of committees tasked to calculate the grades of students in the scientific and literature departments. On the other hand, the source confirmed the completion of procedures related to the signing of contracts with certain companies for the supply of alarm and firefighting systems in schools as per the regulations laid down by the Supplies, Warehouses and Educational Districts Department. The source also affirmed the completion of tender procedures for the maintenance of schools in Mubarak Al-Kabeer Educational District at a total cost of KD3 million. The source pointed out that the contracting process started immediately after the approval of the ministry’s budget for fiscal 2021/2022. The source revealed that the Financial Sector finalized procedures for the signing of several contracts related to preparations for the next academic year, such as printing textbooks and the provision of furniture. The sector re-fl oated some tenders as per the recommendation of the Central Agency for Public Tenders, including the supply of fingerprint devices for schools, the source added. The sources went on to say that the sector paid all overdue bills, asserting the allegation of some maintenance companies that they have not paid is baseless. The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs is awaiting the Ministry of Health’s response to its request to approve the easing of health requirements in mosques, especially to allow the congregation to pray in close proximity with each other. I

n this regard, informed sources revealed that the basic weapons for confronting the pandemic are vaccination, and commitment to follow the necessary health requirements, especially physical distancing, reports Al-Rai daily. The sources said, “Physical distancing is a preventive measure that is considered as one of the most important rules in confronting the pandemic, and is applied in various life and commercial activities in order to preserve the safety of all members of society, and to preserve the country’s health security. Its abandonment is not possible until after fully returning to normal life”. The Ministry of Health refused to give up physical distancing from the mandatory measures during the current period, based on the opinion of the technical committees. Reducing health requirements in mosques may be limited to allowing lessons and lectures to be held while adhering to physical distancing and other means of prevention”.