‘Move will constitute ‘disaster’ if gov’t adopts it’

KUWAIT CITY, March 27: A number of political, economic and education experts unanimously agreed that the government’s tendency to consider the last ten days of Ramadan as an official holiday will paralyze Kuwait further, and will perpetuate the attitude of dishonoring the value of work, as well as cause severe harm to the level of achievement for students who mainly suffer from educational loss that began with the COVID-19 pandemic, reports Aljarida daily. In individual press statements, these experts called on the government to move away from this approach due to its many negative effects on various aspects of society, especially economic and educational. They stressed that this move will constitute a “disaster” if the government adopts it, and the price to pay will be hefty. Chairman of the Board of Directors of AlShall Consulting Company Jassem Al-Sadoun affirmed that the mere suggestion of this trend is a disaster by all standards, as it develops a sense of dishonor towards the value of work.

Systematic sabotage He explained that this trend is like systematic sabotage at a high cost in light of the basically low productivity of the public sector employees. It gives everyone a feeling that work is not important, will lead to greater backwardness, and appears as encouragement from the government not to work at a time when it buys employee vacations. He said, “This is definitely a disaster by all standards, and a door to more waste of money and decline of work values in an entire country.”

Furthermore, the President of the founding council of Abdullah Al-Salem University Dr. Moudi Al-Hamoud insisted this proposal will greatly increase the educational loss in Kuwait, “especially since our academic year is considered one of the shortest in the world”, and will in turn negatively affect the academic achievement of students.

Al-Hamoud said, “There is no justification for this proposal, as we have been accustomed throughout the years to continuing studies throughout the holy month. This matter will definitely not affect the performance of worship and study at the same time. Our students must be encouraged to study, persevere and pay attention.” Meanwhile, Head of the Kuwait International College of Law Dr. Muhammad Al-Maqaatei stressed that the disruption will affect the educational process and the academic achievement of students, indicating that he does not see the need to stop studies during this period. He added that the educational process in Kuwait suffers from educational loss, and stopping studies during the last ten days of Ramadan will be a reason for exacerbating it. Also, the former Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shammali indicated that this trend will not only harm the economy, but also harm the country as a whole in terms of its negative effects on all aspects.

The former Minister of Finance Bader Al-Humaidhi said the level of employee productivity in Kuwait is very low, adding, “We do not need to add more insult to injury, disrupt the country and paralyze the interests of everyone.” He affirmed that reducing the working hours is sufficient. As for the tendency to close the state for about 17 days, Al-Humaidhi insisted that it will turn out to be very costly and is unacceptable, stressing that the government should not agree to this step.

He stated, “Unfortunately, we have a group of MPs whose main concern is playing on emotions and tickling people’s feelings with such proposals.” Furthermore, the former president of the Kuwait Banking Association Abdul-Majeed Al-Shatti insisted that such a holiday, if approved, would be a disaster, and cause disruption to all aspects of the state. He said, “We are among the top countries in the region that obtain official holidays during the year”. The former Minister of Planning Ali Al-Mousa affirmed that such a move will mean “more waste of public money.” As for the former managing director of the Kuwait Authority for Investment Ali Al-Bader, he said the private sector is the basis for the state, but other than that, it is not of utmost importance, stressing that this sector will inevitably continue to work because it increases its value. Also, a member of the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khaled Al- Khaled said closing the country in this way is not justified.

He affirmed that such decisions need studies and figures in order to determine their negative effects on the economy and people’s interests. Al-Khaled added, “There is no justification for such a long vacation, especially since we have many and many vacations throughout the year.” In this regard, the Head of the Union of Investment Companies Saleh Al- Salami affirmed that the implementation of this approach will lead to more paralysis of the country, which is basically in a paralyzed state, as there has been no government for a while. He highlighted that the most important in this equation is the private sector, as it honors the value of work and productivity, adding that this vacation, if it takes place, may be in its interest, as its units will benefit from the exchange that will result from it. Al-Salami said, “We need to change these concepts. We need more development. We have many challenges ahead. This approach does not serve the desired development, especially considering the patterns of the work environment that have become normal in the nearby countries, which outperform us by dozens of times. Our transactions need months to be completed.”