KUWAIT CITY, Feb 6: The parliamentary Health Affairs Committee discussed on Thursday medical errors related to the death of Abdulaziz Nawaf Al- Rasheri, Nawal Al-Kandari and Hanan Al-Adwani.

In a press statement, Committee Rapporteur MP Sa’adoun Hammad asserted the information given by the Ministry of Health on the death of Al-Rashedi – a child – is not true.

He said the ministry previously informed the committee that the exact cause of the child’s death was not established because the father did not give consent for autopsy. However, the father told the committee on Thursday that he agreed on the autopsy and he even presented the autopsy certificate issued by the ministry to the committee.

Hammad also unveiled the committee’s plan to summon Minister of Health Dr Bassel Al-Sabah, Undersecretary Dr Mustafa Reda, assistant undersecretary for legal affairs and the child’s father next week in order to determine the truth and for the committee to finalize its report on the issue.

Meanwhile, MP Omar Al-Tabtabaei issued a press statement on what he previously said about Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). He reassured researchers at KISR that there is no reason for them to worry about the recent decisions taken by KISR Director General Dr Samera Omar on appointments and renewal of contracts, because he already communicated with Minister of Education and Higher Education Soud Al-Harbi who promised to look into these decisions.

Al-Tabtabaei added the institute owns fish farms and the production is stolen every year. He said the director general of KISR released a statement on Dec 15, 2019 affirming that the issue is under investigation by the Ministry of Interior; but when he checked with the ministry, he found out there has been no communication in this regard. He also discovered that the director general formed a committee but the latter has not released any report till date. He went on to say that the Ministry of Education allocated a travel budget for researchers but every time these researchers want to travel abroad for scientific purposes, they are informed that they have to travel at their own expense.

While this was happening, the director corresponded with the Ministry of Finance requesting for transfer of funds from other items to the travel item because the budget allotted for travel purposes has been depleted, he narrated. He disclosed the director general travels twice a week average; and that every time she travels, she is accompanied by an employee whom Al- Tabtabaei identified only as ‘Walid’. He said the employee was delegated to attend an international space forum although his specialization has nothing to do with space and the institute has no space program.

The lawmaker added the director general gave wrong information to the State Audit Bureau (SAB) when the latter asked about the truth behind the letter that the institute sent to the Central Bank of Kuwait in 2017 requesting for release of credit or financial guarantee of a contractor even if the project was not yet complete. He said the director general told SAB that work is underway and the financial rights of the institute are protected. He revealed that an employee at the institute exempted a contractor from paying KD 1.5 million fine and this employee was later promoted to a supervisory position although the former director general of KISR issued a written dismissal warning in case he repeats a grave error. He also revealed that the director general appointed 15 consultants from other countries and the salary of each is KD 6,000 per month. He then promised to forward relevant documents to Al-Harbi who should take the necessary procedures to address the issue.

On the other hand, MP Majed Musa’ed Al- Mutairi has submitted a draft law amending the first part of Article 13 of Family Court Law No. 12/2015. He suggested replacing the first part of this article with the following phrase: “The decisions issued by the Family Court of Appeals can be appealed at the Court of Cassation.”

MP Osama Al-Shaheen has forwarded questions to Minister of Commerce and Industry Khalid Al-Rawdan about the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises, particularly the resignation of two directors general – Abdullah Al-Jawa’an and Abdulkareem Al-Kandari. He wants to know if these directors general resigned for certain reasons. He also requested for copies of the two resignation letters and the procedures taken, pointing out that Al-Jawa’an stayed in his office for seven months only and Al-Kandari for 10 months.

MP Muhammad Husain Al-Dallal has submitted questions to Minister of Health Dr Bassel Al-Sabah about the headline of Al-Seyassah daily on Jan 27, 2020: ‘Corona virus hits and the Infectious Diseases Hospital is out of service’. He asked if the ministry intends to demolish the hospital and what are the reasons if the answer is yes. He also wants to know if the ministry conducted studies to develop such hospitals in the future. About the report published by Al-Qabas daily on Feb 4, 2020 that 42 Kuwaitis serving at the Ministry of Interior and National Guard are infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and they have been referred for retirement, Al-Dallal asked if this piece of news is true. If yes, he wants to know the steps taken by the ministry in handling such cases.

MP Askar Al-Anzi has submitted a proposal to provide all services to help blind students in their studies. He recommended supplying these students with audio textbooks and e-books, printing a large number of Braille books, and establishing e-books library for the blind under the supervision of experts in this field.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff