KUWAIT CITY, Aug 24: As part of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's comprehensive oversight efforts to enhance the supply system and support subsidy reform initiatives, government recommendations are to tighten control over supply records. These measures are intended to improve service quality and significantly reduce wastage.
In this context, the Ministry of Commerce has been instructed to collaborate with the Ministry of Interior to link domestic worker sponsorships with the ration card system automatically. This linkage is intended to update sponsorship data, ensuring that the ration system is accurate and up-to-date.
The goal is to identify and exclude individuals who are no longer eligible, such as fugitives, those who have left the country, or those working outside of their registered sponsorships, thereby ensuring that spending is directed only to those who truly qualify.
Although recent improvements have been noted in the efficiency of the subsidy system, one ongoing debate involves the eligibility of domestic workers to receive all food rations. Concerns have been raised that some rations are being distributed to individuals who do not deserve them, particularly in cases where domestic workers are registered under sponsors but may be working for others, have fled, or have left the country without their residencies being canceled.
Additional recommendations for the Ministry of Commerce, drawn from a public opinion survey, include the need for swift coordination with the Kuwait Municipality and other relevant authorities to allocate land for the construction of multi-story buildings. These buildings would serve as points of sale and distribution for food supplies.
There is also an emphasis on maintaining and cleaning supply branch buildings, as well as updating and developing supply centers to better accommodate storage and distribution needs. Furthermore, it has been recommended to enhance oversight of food storage quality to ensure product integrity, and to introduce online ordering and delivery services for food supplies. The possibility of offering car-based ordering and delivery services at supply branches is also being considered.
