KUWAIT CITY, Sept 14: Chairman of the Parliamentary Values Enhancement Committee MP Muhammad Hayef disclosed that the committee had a meeting with Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research Adel Al-Mane, Kuwait University President Professor Fayez Al- Dhefairi and a number of senior university officials recently. Hayef confirmed that an agreement has been reached on strictly implementing Gender Segregation Law number 24/1996 at the university. He quoted Al-Dhefairi as saying that the departments, which are not segregated will be closed until the completion of the registration of new students as per the aforementioned law. He hailed Al- Dhefairi and the senior university officials for responding to the committee’s demand, which is based on the law and Kuwaiti traditions.

On the other hand, MP Adel Al- Damkhi asked State Minister for Municipal and Communication Affairs Fahd Al-Shulah about the decision of Kuwait Municipality to collect fees from citizens who built car sunshades. He wants to know if the Municipality considered law number 79/1995, which stipulates the need for the National Assembly to ratify special legislation on such fees. MP Majed Al-Mutairi forwarded queries to Al-Shulah about the Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA). He inquired why the authority has not established its permanent headquarters till date despite the allocation of a special budget for this purpose; if the concerned institutions including the Municipality have approved the establishment of the permanent headquarters; copies of approvals if the response is in the affirmative and reasons if the answer is ‘no’; if a tender was fl oated for this purpose; copies of the tender and approval of the concerned monitoring institutions if the reply is ‘yes’; if the rent contract for the temporary headquarters of CITRA in Al- Hamra Mall is still valid; if the contract was renewed for a longer term; rent amount; if the delay in establishing the permanent headquarters and continuous renting of a temporary headquarters are considered squandering of public funds; why CITRA has only one branch (located at Kuwait International Airport); why it has no offices at the land borders, as citizens passing through the land borders have to go to its office at the airport to process their transactions and then return to the land borders to collect their commodities; and strategy of CITRA after abolishing the Cyber Security Department and establishing the National Center for Cyber Security.

MP Mubarak Al-Tasha forwarded queries to the finance minister about the procedures followed in the nomination and appointment of the new Board of Directors of Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC), and the criteria for choosing the board chairman and members among the nominees. He demanded copies of the curriculum vitae of the chairman, vice chairman, and members. He wants to know their connection with the civil aviation sector, how they contribute to the improvement of the performance of KAC, if any of the new board members worked at Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) or its subsidiaries, their names if the answer is ‘yes’ and the legal basis for their appointment at KAC, if the institutions tasked to nominate the board members confirmed that none of the nominees have violated Confl ict of Interests Law number 1/2023.

In another development, MP Hamdan Al- Azmi urged the Ministry of Education to take legal action against a British school for showing a film promoting homosexuality to children. He stressed the need to impose tough penalties such as the cancellation of the license in order to deter other schools from engaging in activities prohibited by Islam and against righteous human nature. On the other hand, Assembly Speaker Ahmed Al- Saadoun had separate meetings with Minister of Finance Fahd Al-Jarallah; Ambassador of the Czech Republic Jaroslav Siro; Director General of the Arab Center for Educational Research in Gulf Countries Dr Muhammad Mutair Al-Shareekah; and a delegation from the Kuwait Society for the Families of the Prisoners of War, Martyrs and Missing Persons including Chairman Fayez Al-Anzi, and members Badr Al-Sawagh and Nawaf Al- Huwaider. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff