KUWAIT CITY, Sept 3: MP Osama Al-Zaid has proposed the inclusion of Bioinformatics to the list of courses in the overseas scholarship plan of the Higher Education Ministry starting from the next academic year. He suggested categorizing Bioinformatics as a rare specialization in the first five years of its inclusion in the annual overseas scholarship plan of the ministry. He said the Civil Service Commission (CSC) should specify the job title for Bioinformatics graduates.

Meanwhile, MP Fayez Al-Jomhour has forwarded queries to State Minister for Municipality Affairs and Communications Fahd Al-Shulah about the decision of Kuwait Municipality to refrain from issuing description certificates to the owners of houses in Jleeb Al Shuyoukh. He wants to know the rationale behind such a decision, considering it prevents the owners of houses in the aforementioned area from selling the properties. He argued this is a violation of the Constitution and it is a big problem for many Kuwaiti families currently staying in Jleeb Al Shuyoukh who want to sell their houses in order to relocate to other areas due to the social and security issues and other problems in Jleeb. He asked if the State Ministry for Municipality Affairs took measures to determine the prices of real estate properties in Jleeb in order to buy them and then modernize the area. If yes, he wants to know the date of completing these measures. He also inquired if Al-Shulah carried out studies to determine and address the worsening problems in Jleeb, including the deterioration of infrastructure and the security issues.

MP Osama Al-Zaid asked Al-Shulah to provide him with the number of male and female Kuwaitis in and outside the country, as well as the number of male and female expatriates in the country as of Dec 31, 2022 according to the records of the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Health, Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) and Central Statistics Bureau (CSB). He wants to know if there are Kuwaitis who have no address, if CSB carries out its tasks as per the relevant law such as unifying the statistical data of all public institutions, if there is an automated link between CSB and other concerned institutions like the Births and Deaths Central Registry, Land Borders General Department and PACI. He also asked if CSB has recorded individuals without identification documents – whether valid or expired and issued by Kuwait or foreign authorities; way of dealing with these individuals if any; and if CSB reported them to the concerned authorities.

MP Abdulkareem Al-Kandari forwarded the same queries to Deputy Prime Minister, State Minister for National Assembly and Cabinet Affairs Essa Al-Kandari; as well as Minister of Justice and State Minister for Housing Affairs Faleh Al-Raqaba about the news that Al-Jarida daily published Sunday quoting reliable sources as saying: “The British authorities asked their Kuwaiti counterparts why the latter did not request for the confiscated and frozen financial assets of Kuwaiti citizens as per the request of Kuwait because of court verdicts against some Kuwaitis staying abroad for committing various crimes.” The lawmaker wants to know why the concerned Kuwaiti institutions did not deny the news if it is erroneous, if there are correspondences between the British and Kuwaiti authorities on this issue including the names of convicted Kuwaitis abroad, and copies of such correspondences if the response is in the affirmative.

MP Dawoud Ma’arafiasked Minister of Health Ahmad Al-Awadhi to provide him with the list of ministry employees under the following categories: children of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis, Bedouns and expatriates. He inquired about the manpower needs of the ministry, number of Kuwaiti graduates recruited since 2020 till date including their specializations, number of vacant supervisory positions, and number of expatriate and Kuwaiti consultants at the offices of the minister and assistant undersecretaries including their nationalities.

On the other hand, MP Mehalhal Al-Mudhaf commented on the response of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to his queries on the resignation of Finance Minister Mnaf Al-Hajri, and the strategy for putting public authorities and institutions under the supervision of ministers. He expressed dismay over the premier’s response, which he considers arrogant and indicates that the premier does not respect the parliamentary tools granted to MPs as per the relevant laws and the Constitution. He quoted the premier as saying that assigning public authorities and institutions to ministers is not part of the general policy of the State and that such queries should be forwarded to the concerned ministers. He retorted, “if this is not the task of HH the Prime Minister, who is responsible then?” He pointed out that the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) has been under three different ministers in the government of Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf. He added that during the tenure of HH the late Amir Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah as Prime Minister and Crown Prince, he was asked about the resignation of a minister in his government and he responded to the query. Al-Mudhaf said the response of Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf indicates that he is not aware of his responsibilities and the limits of the authority granted to him. He added this attitude indicates that the rumor about the government being managed by someone else is true. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff