KUWAIT: A statistical report said on Sunday that domestic workers in Kuwait increased 1.1 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2024 to 789,000 and formed 26.9 percent of the expat workforce in the country. Citing official figures by the Central Statistics Bureau, Al-Shall Economic Consultants said female domestic helpers numbered 423,000, while males totaled 366,000.

Filipinas topped the list of female domestic helpers at the end of the first quarter with 175,000, a sharp drop from the previous year’s 205,000. The slide appears to be the result of the labor rift between Kuwait and the Philippines, which was resolved recently. Indian males top the list with 248,000, a slight increase from 247,000 a year ago, the report said.

But Indian males and females together make up 44.7 percent of all expat domestic workers in the country (around 352,000) followed by the Philippines at 22.5 percent (177,500). Domestic workers from India, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh together make 93.3 percent of all domestic workers in Kuwait, Al-Shall said.

According to the report, Indian workers in all sectors increased to 889,000 at the end of the first quarter this year compared to 858,000 a year ago, making up 35.9 percent of all expat manpower and 30.3 percent if Kuwaiti manpower is added. Indian homemakers and other dependents are not included in the report.

Egyptian workers came second at 476,000 or 19.2 percent of expat manpower, compared to 489,000 a year ago, the report said. Kuwaiti manpower came third at 458,000 or 15.6 percent of total manpower, increasing from 445,000 a year ago.

Bangladeshi workers came in fourth place at 266,000 and workers from the Philippines came in fifth place with 240,000, dropping from 274,000 at the end of the first quarter of 2023, Al-Shall said.

Meanwhile, the Public Authority of Manpower announced on Sunday that the three-month ban on working under the sun during the hot summer months has ended and that it cited over 200 violations. Introduced in 2015, the ban prohibits workers from doing any work under the direct heat of the sun from 11 am to 4 pm between June 1 and August 31. The authority issues citations against violating companies for each worker asked to work under the sun.

The ban was introduced to save the lives of workers as temperatures in summer in Kuwait top 50 degrees Celsius in the shade and well above 60 degrees under the direct sun, which endangers the lives of workers. Acting director of the authority Marzouq Al-Oaeibi said the authority launched search campaigns during the ban and issued 205 citations to companies for violating the ban. As many as 213 workers were present at the sites. Otaibi said 129 of the sites had committed the violation for the first time. He said that 119 sites rectified the violation on the second visit, while only seven sites continued to violate the ban.

Separately, the ministry of interior reopened licensing for consumer delivery and logistics services companies under new conditions, which include setting the minimum number of cars that each company can operate at five and the maximum at 30. The model year of each car should not be older than three years from the manufacturing date at the time of licensing, and the car should be taken out of service after completing seven years from the manufacturing date.

Each company can add up to 15 motorbikes after meeting the five-car minimum requirement, according to the new conditions. The model year of each bike should not be older than two years from the manufacturing date at the time of licensing, and the bike should be taken out of service after completing four years from the manufacturing date.

The interior ministry also announced Sunday adding the car ownership transfer service to the Sahel app, enabling people to transfer the ownership of vehicles they sell to new buyers online. The service is available under the traffic services under the interior ministry section in the services tab. Currently, the app’s interface is only available in Arabic.