KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27: MPs Abdullah Al-Anbaie, Mehalhal Al-Mudaf, Abdulwahab Al-Essa, Shuaib Shaaban and Muhannad Al-Sayer have submitted a bill on the establishment of a public authority for the recruitment of workers. The proposed authority shall have an independent budget and legal personality.

The tasks of the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) shall be turned over to the proposed entity as per law numbers 28/1969, 6/2010 and 109/2013 on the establishment of PAM; in addition to the tasks of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) as stipulated in law number 15/1979. The bill covers Kuwaitis working in the private and public sectors; while it is not applicable to the military personnel at Kuwait Army, Ministry of Interior and National Guard. The Prime Minister shall head the authority and he can delegate another official to chair the authority on his behalf.

The authority will adopt the general strategy of the State, conduct studies and researches on developing civil services, recommend the establishment of public authorities, give opinion on the recommended public authorities, follow up the execution of the policy on Kuwaitizing public sector jobs, give opinion on the objectives of ministries and other public institutions, lay down the general policy on the salaries of public sector workers and those employed in companies in which the State owns more than half of the capital, lay down regulations on monitoring the performance of public institutions, provide explanations for laws if requested by public institutions, and ensure compliance of public institutions to the specified percentage of national workers. The board of directors will be formed according to a decree, which will also specify the number of members and the term of the board.

The board can form committees to carry out various tasks. MP Khalid Al-Tamar has proposed the demolition of the Public Authority for Roads and Transportation (PART) due to its overlapping tasks with the Ministry of Public Works and losses that reached almost KD3.3 million since 2015. He said PART incurred losses amounting to KD 415,000 in fiscal 2015/2016; KD 595,000 in fiscal 2016/2017; KD 446,000 in fiscal 2017/2018; KD 846,000 in fiscal 2018/2019; and KD 969,000 in fiscal 2019/2020. He added that PART procured a machine for assessing asphalt defects worth KD 248,000; but the machine has not been used so far, while only one worker was trained to operate the machine. He went on to say that PART signed a contract directly with a laboratory to examine the asphalt even if the laboratory did not obtain a permit from the concerned public institutions.

MP Osama Al-Shaheen submitted a proposal for Kuwait Municipality to publish the list of accredited contractors on its website, including their classification and contact details. He stressed the need to ensure that such information is updated. Meanwhile, Chairman of the fact-finding committee tasked to investigate the Eurofighter and Karacal aircraft contracts MP Adel Al-Damkhi disclosed that First Deputy Prime Minister, Interior Minister and acting Defense Minister Sheikh Talal Khalid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah attended the panel’s meeting on Tuesday.

Al-Damkhi praised the minister for his cooperation and commitment in protecting public funds. He pointed out that the minister did not only cooperate with the committee, but also took a step forward by announcing his decision to suspend receiving the Karacal aircraft, and that he is ready to suspend the whole deal if necessary.

The lawmaker affirmed that the committee will continue holding such meetings, urging all those who will be summoned to follow in the footsteps of Sheikh Talal Khalid for the investigations to yield the desired results. Moreover, MP Mubarak Al-Tasha asked Minister of Finance Abdulwahab Al-Rashead when will Kuwait Credit Bank start receiving the housing loan applications of citizens who were granted plots in Mutla’a Residential City and neighboring areas, timetable for granting such loans if any, if the ministry is ready to meet the loan demands, and if law number 1/2022 contributed to increasing the capital of the bank to KD 3.3 billion.

He also asked Minister of State for National Assembly, Housing and Urban Development Affairs Ammar Al-Ajmi about the schedule for handing over plots to the beneficiaries of Mutla’a Residential City (blocks one to four), date for granting them the ‘To Whom It May Concern’ certificate, completion date of the infrastructure works in the four blocks, percentage of the completion of these infrastructure works, if contractors are facing difficulties, and if some contractors deliberately delayed the completion of such works because they were not paid on time. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff