KUWAIT CITY, Aug 21: MP Hamdan Al- Azmi has submitted a proposal to grant six months leave with full salary to public sector employees who accompany patients for overseas treatment. If the patient is the first degree relative of the employee, the full salary leave will continue until the completion of treatment, the lawmaker added.

MP Marzouq Al-Hebeini submitted a proposal to include the scholarship students nominated by the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET), Civil Service Commission (CSC) and other public institutions to the beneficiaries of the decision that the Council of Ministers issued on Nov 21, 2021 for the Ministry of Higher Education to coordinate with the Finance Ministry to increase the allowance of scholarship students by 50 percent in order to cover their expenses in light of the rising inflation rates.

On the other hand, MP Shuaib Sha’aban urged Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Oil, State Minister for Economic and Investment Affairs, and acting Minister of Finance Saad Al-Barrak to dismiss the chief executive officer (CEO) and Board of Directors of Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC). Sha’aban criticized the recent press conference of the CEO, stating it was held to defend the decisions of the Board of Directors including the appointment of an expatriate consultant with a salary of more than KD 6,000.

He argued that Kuwait has several experts who can manage the national carrier; adding the CEO should have explained the reasons behind the frequent delay of Kuwait Airways flights and high prices of plane tickets, instead of defending futile decisions. He stressed the need for Al-Barrak to take action; otherwise, he will bear political responsibility.

Moreover, MP Mubarak Al-Tasha has forwarded queries to Al-Barrak about the oil spill in an area measuring 29.7 square meters at the Gulf water opposite Kuwaiti shores. He asked if the Environment Public Authority (EPA) has recorded pollution of the Gulf water. If yes, he wants to know the level of pollution, causes and effect on fish resources; and if the oil spill is due to leakage from oil trucks passing through the Arabian Gulf. MP Marzouq Al-Hebeini forwarded queries to Minister of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy and acting Minister of Education Jassem Al- Ostad about the criteria for the academic accreditation of foreign educational institutions.

He inquired if the cultural offices at Kuwaiti embassies allow Kuwaiti students to enroll in educational institutions not accredited by the National Bureau for Academic Accreditation and Education Quality Assurance, if the bureau rejected the certificates of Kuwaiti graduates even if they obtained approval from the cultural offices to enroll in unaccredited universities, if the bureau issued the equivalent academic certificates as per the court decisions, rationale behind the refusal to grant the equivalent certificates prior to the issuance of court decisions in favor of the students, if a court decision was issued in the case of a graduate from a certain university, and if the bureau continues to refuse to issue the equivalent certificates in similar cases unless ordered by the court decisions citing decision number 20/2014 issued by the bureau on the accreditation of South Korea Maritime University.

He added a ministerial decision was issued in 2017 to suspend the enrollment of Kuwaiti students in this university without affecting those who enrolled prior to the issuance of the decision. He went on to say the graduates, who enrolled at the university before the issuance of the ministerial decision, were surprised when the bureau refused to grant equivalent certificates after their graduation in academic year 2019/ 2020. He wants to know if these graduates’ certificates have been accredited and reasons for non-accreditation if the answer is ‘no’. MP Muhannad Al-Sayer asked Minister of Justice and State Minister for Housing Affairs Faleh Al-Raqaba if Kuwaiti consultants were appointed at the Ministry of Housing Affairs and Public Authority for Housing Welfare in line with the Kuwaitization policy. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff