Revise remuneration for Kuwaiti doctors

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 17: MP Fahd Falah Bin Jame’e has submitted a proposal to revise regulations on the salaries and allowances of Kuwaiti physicians and dentists. He suggested extending the working hours of doctors in public hospitals and then grant them overtime pay. He clarified this is optional for the doctors; that is, only if they are willing to work overtime. He pointed out this will encourage Kuwaiti doctors to work in public hospitals and it could be one way of nationalizing the health sector.

On the other hand, MP Fahd Falah Bin Jame’e underscored the need to address the Bedoun issue. He pointed out it is unacceptable that some Bedouns are the grandchildren of those who have been residing in Kuwait since the 1950s, and worked at Kuwait Oil Company and Kuwait Army, yet they have not been granted citizenship. He emphasized the need to review the cases individually to ensure that citizenship is granted only to those who deserve it. He called for the cancellation of the Central System for Remedying the Status of Illegal Residents (CSRSIR) or at least appoint an honest member of Sabah Family to manage it. He added some Bedouns are forced to pay illegal money just to renew their security cards.

Moreover, MP Muhammad Hayef Al-Mutairi forwarded queries to Minister of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy and acting Minister of Education Muhammad Al-Ostad about the delay in adding the Holy Quran subject to the curriculum of kindergartens and the steps taken since he submitted the proposal on Aug 25, 2020. On the public tenders, Al-Mutairi requested for details like the number of direct contracts that the minister signed in fiscal 2022/2023, if some contracts were signed more than once at the same time or at different times to divide big tenders in a bid to dodge the monitoring of the concerned institutions like the Central Agency for Public Tenders, State Audit Bureau, and the Legal Advice and Legislation Department. He demanded for copies of six contracts for the supply of air conditioning units in schools during academic year 2022/2023. He asked if these contracts are with the same company.

Queries
MP Muhammad Al-Regaib forwarded queries to all ministers about their plan for the implementation of the nationalization policy, vital job positions that Kuwaitis can occupy, plan for the execution of the program of the government and if they participated in drafting the program. MP Shuaib Shaaban forwarded queries to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Oil, Minister of State for Economic and Investment Affairs and acting Minister of Finance Saad Al-Barrak about the alleged granting of Waha Club platinum membership to the chairman, members of the Board of Directors, chief executive officer and his assistants at Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) and others even if they did not meet the conditions. He asked about the categories and number of job contracts at KAC, absence of a unified contract form, high prices of tickets, delayed flights, if there is a shortage of flight crew and maintenance staff, action taken regarding the passengers whose flights were delayed and compensation granted to them if any.

MP Dawoud Maarefiasked Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Muhammad Othman Al-Aiban to provide him with the list of plots allotted to the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises including the beneficiaries, date of distribution and purpose of each enterprise. He wants to know if it is true that the construction materials in Ardhiya Vocational Center — a subsidiary of the fund — were stolen.

If yes, who are the responsible officials, total value of the stolen items and measures taken against the responsible officials. He said the Council of Ministers, in a meting held on July 28, 2021, instructed the fund to coordinate with Kuwait Municipality to allocate land for food trucks in Subbiya and establish an outdoor cinema as part of the activities of SMEs. He added the Municipal Council allocated land measuring one million square meters for this purpose; then the Council of Ministers announced on Oct 13, 2021 that the project will be launched on Dec 1, 2021. He asked why the project was not launched on the specified date and if a new launching date has been set. He requested for a copy of the feasability study on the project, including the estimated cost and revenues, names and positions of the members of the team tasked to follow up the project; and if the maximum amount of loan granted to the beneficiaries increased from KD400,000 to KD 500,000. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff