KUWAIT: MPsyesterday called on the government to quickly complete the long-awaited unifiedpay scale for government employees to achieve justice and equality among allemployees. The new pay scale was submitted by the government to the NationalAssembly a few years ago, but was withdrawn after criticism that it does notachieve equality among employees in various government departments and takesaway some benefits from some.
MP MajedAl-Mutairi said the strategic payroll alternative, as the new pay scale isreferred to, should be accepted and approved quickly if it is based on ascientific and comprehensive study. But the lawmaker said that any such studymust be first reviewed by specialists, and warned against taking away anybenefits currently enjoyed by employees. The lawmaker said the new pay scalemust not be applied to vital sectors like the oil sector and the nationalguards, adding that attempts to reduce benefits to such sectors will not beaccepted.
He said the newpay scale must be transparent, achieve justice and equality, and above all,provide for raising salaries to help citizens cope with the high cost ofliving. The new pay scale should be fair with employees who do not get the samewages and benefits like their counterparts in other ministries. Mutairi alsoinsisted that the wages of Kuwaiti employees must not be touched.
MP Saleh Ashourblamed the government for delaying the new pay scale, recalling that it was thegovernment which withdrew the draft it had submitted to the Assembly, addingthe government now puts the blame on the Assembly. He said the new pay scale,if implemented correctly, will have important positive results among governmentemployees, as under the scheme, the employee will get the same salary andbenefits regardless of the place of appointment in any government department.
MP KhalilAl-Saleh said the proposed pay scale will be difficult to implement under thecurrent employment policy and stressed he will reject any cuts to the wages andbenefits of Kuwaitis. He said the existing gap between government employeesdespite having similar qualifications is the cause of social and financialdisparity among employees. The lawmaker however ruled out the possibility ofapproving the pay scale in the coming term, because it may not be very popular,especially with elections around the corner.
Meanwhile,informed sources said State Minister for Economic Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel saidshe will present a study to the Cabinet calling for passing a technicalrecommendation related to implementing a quota and decide the percentages ofexpat labor allowed in the country. She said the quota will start with new workpermits until it develops in the future to set a percentage that no communitywill exceed, which is 25-30 percent of the number of Kuwaitis.
Sources saidAqeel is serious about fulfilling her promises to the National Assembly toimplement steps to deal with the excessive increase in expats in Kuwait, whichexceeds the market's needs, besides the overwhelming number of marginallaborers that forms a security risk and burden on services.
The sources saidAqeel is careful about mega projects in Kuwait, particularly the Silk City andthe northern economic zone, which require a large number of expat labor, and ifthings are left as they are, thousands of marginal workers will enter thecountry, making the problem worse and its solution more difficult. She said themanpower authority is currently issuing work permits, which is not its job -rather it should prepare a strategy to set how work permits are issued, to whomand for how long.
In a relateddevelopment, a recent report by the health ministry revealed that 2,214,865expat workers were examined in the five years from 2012 to 2016. The reportsaid 12,422 expats were not granted residency permits and deported due toinfectious diseases in this period, including 373 expats infected with malaria,497 with filaria and 4,081 with tuberculosis. The report said among thosedeported were 1,158 infected with AIDS, 4,177 with hepatitis B and 2,203 withhepatitis C.
By B Izzak and ASaleh