Govt sources defend 'anti-expat' laws - Driving license process to go online

KUWAIT: Minister of State for Economic Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel said yesterday that amendments to the labor law in the private sector raising annual leave to 35 days are harmful to the national economy and Kuwaiti businessmen. After the National Assembly passed the amendments in the first reading more than three weeks ago, mainly to increase annual leave from 30 to 35 days, the government, which voted in favor of the amendments, backtracked and decided to reject the changes.

The rejection came at a meeting of the Assembly's health and labor committee attended by the minister, during which she explained the "great damage" the amendments would inflict on the national economy and on the interests of Kuwaiti businessmen, especially small businesses. The minister explained that the workforce that will benefit from the amendments "include a small number of Kuwaitis and a large section of others", a clear reference to the fact that expatriate employees in the private sector greatly outnumber Kuwaitis.

MPs who filed the amendments and backed them said they wanted to encourage more nationals to join the private sector by increasing labor benefits in the sector to ultimately reduce pressure on public sector employment. Representatives of the chamber of commerce and industry and the banking association attended the meeting and totally backed the minister's remarks.

Well-informed government sources expressed amazement over opposition to new anti-expat legislations and stressed that Kuwait can never do without expats, who are still greatly needed. "This is nothing more than reorganizing their numbers in view of the growing number of Kuwaiti graduates awaiting employment and replacing expats where possible," the sources explained, noting that legislations by the government and the parliament will never be against expats' rights or living standards. "If such talk refers to imposing new fees, citizens also pay some of these fees," the sources stressed.

"Health fees are collected worldwide and those paid in Kuwait are the least," added the sources, noting that imposing health insurance on visitors is done around the world. "It is absurd to describe it as means to drive expats away from Kuwait," the sources exclaimed, pointing out that only small numbers of expats had left compared to their total numbers in Kuwait, and that they had left for personal reasons and not because of the fees or being replaced by citizens, who are still a minority in the private sector.

The sources admitted that the government does have plans to cut the numbers of some communities in a bid to adjust Kuwait's demographics, but remarked that such plans will never affect qualified and skilled labor. "They only target marginal workers who overburden public services and pose security threats without actually doing any good to Kuwait," explained the sources, noting that such laborers will not be given work permits in the future.

Meanwhile, the interior ministry announced that the first batch of half a million new e-driving licenses will arrive next week pending commencing the electronic issuance of driving licenses in May, said informed sources. The sources added that the project will initially start with citizens in May, while those for expatriates will start by the end of the year at most. The sources explained that applicants will have to log in to the MoI website to submit their information, and on receiving an automated text message, they can receive their licenses from automated machines in various governorates.

The sources also explained that applications of expats applying online to renew their licenses will be blocked if they have unpaid fines, have changed their profession, left the country or completed their studies (for students), and will be asked to check in with relevant traffic departments to rectify their status if they are entitled to get driving licenses with the new data. Moreover, the sources said the project will reduce the number of expat licenses by over 25,000 due to cancelling those of expats who permanently left Kuwait, changed their profession, exceeded the age of 65 or completed their studies in Kuwait.

By B Izzak and A Saleh