MoH earns KD 46.2 mln since implementation of new health fees

Khalil Al-Saleh

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 24: MP Khalil Al-Saleh revealed that the Parliament’s committee for replacement of expatriates with citizens and for employment affairs will hold a meeting this Monday to set up a roadmap for its work, reports Al-Anba daily.He affirmed that the Parliament’s approval for his request to form the committee is a major step towards activating the Parliament’s role in this regard. MP Al-Saleh said he hopes the government will cooperate with the committee in order to resolve this thorny file, indicating that the time has come to completely stop the employment of expatriates in the government sector.He clarified that the committee will work on replacing non- Kuwaitis in the public sector until the problem related to unemployment subsides, indicating that figures show there has been a rapid increase in the employment of expatriates in the government sector. Al-Saleh indicated that the employment rate of expatriates in the government sector had increased to 30 percent last year, which is an increase of 2.5 percent since 2012.On the other hand, the number of Kuwaitis being employed in the government sector is dropping. He stressed the importance of finding job opportunities for citizens, insisting that reality has proven that the solutions taken by the government in the past lacked effectiveness and were merely holistic.Meanwhile, MP Nasser Al-Dousari said the law to establish Al- Durra Company for Recruitment of Domestic Labor was submitted by the former MP Kamel Al-Awadhi, revealing that the charges for recruiting a domestic worker from Sri Lanka will be KD 170, while the maximum charges for recruiting a Filipina will be KD 380.“Since the company intends to announce KD 1,000 as the charge for hiring a domestic worker, there is a certain need to go through the company’s file and hold accountable any official who is proven to be involved in increasing these charges, which is a dangerous violation”, MP Al-Dousari added.Ministry of Health has earned a sum of KD 46.2 million since implementation of the online health fees payment service in April till end of November. The daily quoting a source noted revenues accrued to the ministry through the recent increase in health service fees for expatriate residents and visitors reached KD 3 million in October and November alone. He noted the ministry is now ahead of other ministries and government agencies in online payment revenues through revenue stamps and K-Net. He assured the ministry will continue the automation system for healthcare services to enhance the new developments. He said the revenues have gone up drastically since beginning of increase in the healthcare fees for expatriates such that the average monthly revenue used to be around KD 300,000. He noted the amount has increased in four folds with the current average rate of KD 1.5 million while the annual average revenues are now hitting KD 20 million, but the real evaluation will be done later based on certain criteria.