KUWAIT CITY, March 17: The Union of Consumer Cooperative Societies (UCCS) revealed the Ministry of Health’s initial approval to provide mobile vehicles for vaccinating the employees and laborers of cooperative societies, as they are in direct and continuous contact with the public, reports Al-Qabas daily. This was revealed during a meeting held recently by the Minister of Social Affairs Dr Mishan Al-Otaibi with the UCCS board. The meeting was aimed to solve the challenges and obstacles that exist between the union and the ministry, as the cooperative societies put their observations and demands on the minister’s table to speed up their facilitation and implementation.

At the beginning of the meeting, Dr Al-Otaibi called on the cooperative societies to deal with the negative aspects and activate competition to reduce the prices of goods, especially since the ministry had received many complaints about the increased prices of commodities in many of the cooperative societies. He wished for the cooperative body to treat itself by itself and improve its performance to counter its negatives.

Legal
Regarding the lack of cooperation between the union and the ministry, Dr Al-Otaibi highlighted the keenness of the ministry to implement the law, indicating that a legal team will be formed to follow up the complaints, and this team will act as a committee to investigate facts and promote transparency and integrity. He added that the aim of the meeting with the cooperative societies was to thank them for their role during the COVID-19 crisis in providing food security.

During the meeting, the UCCS stressed the importance of establishing a mechanism for selecting the superintendents affiliated with the Ministry of Social Affairs. Assistant Undersecretary for Cooperative Affairs Salem Al-Rashidi stressed the necessity for issuing a decision regarding cooperative superintendents, according to which the conditions for their selection would be amended, and penalties will be set in the event of shortcomings in the performance of work, especially since this post has a special form.

Al-Rashidi stated that the cooperative sector applies the law on all parts of the cooperative societies, but the union must join hands in order to face the challenges and they must check on the transactions that are sent to the ministry and complete the documents related to them.

Meanwhile, the UCCS called for the cancellation of the decision to limit the purchase of local products through the farmers’ union due to its inability to supply directly because of lack of means of transportation. They emphasized their rejection of the pharmacies’ law and its separation from the body of the cooperative society, especially since the profits achieved by pharmacies are high, sometimes amounting to KD 4.5 million annually, which should not be limited to one Kuwaiti pharmacist.