MPs ready plan to tackle demographic imbalance
KUWAIT: Well-informed sources said a parliamentary plan is ready for discussion at the National Assembly with the aim of urging the government to take immediate actions to resolve the demographic imbalance problem. The sources added that the plan will be discussed in a regular session to come up with recommendations to be put into immediate practice, especially in view of lawmakers' dissatisfaction with earlier statements by Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Sabeeh about resolving the problem over a 30-year period.
The sources explained that the plan would mainly depend on not hiring expats for advisory and consultancy positions at various ministries and senior officials' offices.
The plan also recommends reducing the number of expats annually by 30 percent, laying off unnecessary expat workers and replace those in administrative positions with Kuwaitis.
In addition, the plan will also ban ministries from contracting companies to provide administrative staff (such as the case at the Public Authority for Civil Information and the health ministry), unless they only employ Kuwaitis.
"Health service fee increases and health insurance fees for visitors are coming soon," stressed the sources, adding that private companies would be compelled to provide healthcare for their staff. Treatment of expats will be banned at public hospitals once the health insurance hospitals are ready. Finally, the sources highlighted that the plan will be discussed in the November parliamentary term after the parliament tackles the grilling motions and discusses the state budget in the current term, and the passage of Ramadan.
By A Saleh