Worker’s right protected: MP

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: MP Marzouq Al-Khalifa has submitted a bill on amending Oil Sector Labor Law number 28/1969 by adding an article on allowing workers to convert their unused leave days into cash. The bill states that the worker’s right is protected even if he does not demand for the cash equivalent of his unused leave days and there is no limit in the number of unused leave days which can be converted into cash. MP Musaed Al-Ardi submitted a proposal to amend Article 45 of the decree concerning the Civil Service Commission (CSC) issued on April 4, 1979.

According to the proposal, the relevant minister has the right to grant leave with full salary to the employee who accompanies a relative for overseas treatment. The CSC will lay down the regulations for granting such leave. MP Farz Al-Daihani submitted a proposal to amend the decrees on overseas scholarship for students under the Ministry of Higher Education and public sector workers under the CSC in order to grant privileges to the companion of a female student — father, mother, brother or uncles. The existing decree states that only the husband or son can accompany a female student. MP Osama Al-Shaheen submitted a proposal for the government to adopt a mechanism for renovating the roofs of houses, car parking areas and public facilities to install solar panels.

Meanwhile, MP Osama Al-Menawer forwarded queries to Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Ali Al-Musa about the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR). He asked if any shipment entered the country without passing the necessary laboratory tests, action against the contracting companies assigned to supply PAAAFR with boats which were found to be defective, if the authority benefited from the guarantee stated in the contracts, if PAAAFR purchased used boats, value of the contracts for the maintenance of public parks, action against the maintenance companies for not doing their job considering the bad conditions of the parks, percentage of the implementation of the policy on replacing expatriate workers with nationals, number of expatriate employees in PAAAFR, their job titles, number of expatriate employment contracts renewed in the last three years, and if any of the expatriate workers hold unaccredited certificates or whose qualification is lower than the requirement.

He also asked Minister of Health Khalid Al-Saed if the Public Authority for Disability Affairs (PADA) illegally provided financial support amounting to KD4 million for schools, nurseries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) during academic year 2019/2020 even if they stopped operations starting from March 12, 2020 because of the Covid-19 crisis. He wants to know if PADA granted allowances to private schools which do not accept students with disabilities, if the authority activated the e-link with different public institutions to expedite the completion of citizen’s’ transactions, number of vacancies at PADA, and reason behind the delayed appointment of officials. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff