KUWAIT: The administrative court yesterday set a hearing to be held on Nov 14 to review a case filed demanding the suspension of the Civil Service Commission's (CSC) decision number 8/2017 mandating that all government employees use the fingerprint system to check in and out. The case was filed by lawyer Mohammed Al-Ansari, who said that thousands of employees have been going to work daily and that they had never thought their workplaces might be places where they might catch diseases that would eventually lead to cancer. "These devices can carry infectious viruses from one employee to another," he underlined.

Private colleges

Kuwait Municipality is currently considering allocating 22 land plots for private colleges and universities, including 10 to be included in Kuwait's fourth structural plan 2040, said informed sources. The sources added that the municipality had received a letter from the private universities' council secretary general Dr Habib Abul requesting allocating the new plots.

Unlawful payments

The State Audit Bureau yesterday urged the Ministry of Education to suspend the payment of incentives that had been unlawfully paid to certain employees. The bureau also urged the ministry to re-collect KD 181,156 that had been paid in this manner to some Kuwaiti employees.

Overpricing

In preparation for next year's hajj season, undersecretary of the ministry of Awqaf and Islamic affairs Fareed Emadi said that the supreme hajj and umrah committee will issue a new package of decisions to control the overpricing of hajj trips. Emadi explained that pilgrims would be divided into four categories - regular, gold, platinum and diamond - leaving the choice to the pilgrims themselves.

Emadi said that a study on hajj prices was concluded in April and the final decisions were made in July, but could not be applied to the recent hajj season. Moreover, Emadi said that on direct instructions from Minister Mohammed Al-Jabri, low-cost hajj packages of no more than KD 1,300 were provided, in addition to five hajj convoys for bedoons with a maximum cost of KD 1,200 per pilgrim.

Non-Kuwaiti workers

Minister of Justice and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Faleh Al-Azb said the total number of non-Kuwaitis working for the justice ministry is only 4.56 percent of its workforce, while Kuwaitis form 95.44 percent. Azb explained that the ministry had to hire expats in some jobs that Kuwaitis refrain from doing, such as court secretaries, and said that when appointed in such positions, citizens soon demand a transfer to other jobs.

By A Saleh