Land allocated to accommodate 25,000 Clean Fuel Project workers

KUWAIT: Following up the recent statements made by Minister of State for Economic Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel concerning plans to build temporary prefabricated dormitories for expatriate workers at each project site so that they could be removed when the project is finished, Kuwait Municipality Director Ahmad Al-Manfouhi expressed the municipality's readiness to allocate special land for all government projects to use for building temporary accommodation sites, adding that the municipality had done the same by allocating land to accommodate 25,000 laborers at the Clean Fuel Project's site. Meanwhile, Manfouhi said that in a bid to fight the housing of 'bachelors' in private residential areas, the municipality had allowed various factories to build special accommodations for their laborers on a maximum of 10 percent of the factory's area.

Bedoons' hajj
The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs contacted both the Zakat House and the awqaf secretariat general and asked them to provide financial support needed to contribute in making bedoons' low-budget hajj easier, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Fahd Al-Sholah said. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice announced yesterday that it had issued 1,742 governmental and non-governmental transactions and documents for bedoons in 2018, in cooperation with Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents. Undersecretary of Ministry of Justice Abdullatif Al-Suraiye said that legal documentation department has issued 1,121 marital documents, 547 divorce documents and 74 marital revision documents for illegal residents from January until December 2018. Suraiye affirmed that all documents were issued according to the terms of conditions of the ministry and in cooperation with the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents.

Kuwaiti jobseekers
Minister of State For Economic Affairs Mariam Al-Aqeel said that the total number of Kuwaiti jobseekers registered with the Civil Service Commission (CSC) is 240,667 including 236,085 already nominated for jobs and 4,582 still waiting for employment. Responding to a parliamentary inquiry by MP Bader Al-Mulla, Aqeel stressed these numbers are variable, adding the numbers she mentioned are estimated until the date of the inquiry.

Excellent performance bonuses
Manager of the Financial Affairs Department at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation Fahd Al-Obaidli announced excellent performance bonuses had been deposited in deserving employees' bank accounts. Obaidli added 2,950 out of a total of 3,600 employees will get KD 250-1,500 according to their positions, with a total value of KD 2 million.

Mail company
The Ministry of State for Services Affairs submitted a bill establishing the Kuwait Mail Company to the Fatwa and Legislation Department demanding shifting the supervision of this sector to the Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA). According to the proposed law, CITRA will be responsible to set mail policies, execute them, ensure provision of regular high-quality mail services at reasonable prices, supervise service providers, open the market for fair competition, encourage local and foreign private sector to invest in mail and issue the law's executive chart.

Universities' list
Well-informed sources said the board of directors of the National Bureau for Academic Accreditation and Education Quality Assurance (NBAQ) will meet next week to review updating the list of accredited universities in some countries. The sources added that the board will review reports by some delegations dispatched to foreign countries to visit a number of universities. The sources also expected the board to approve new lists of some European universities.

Legal action
The Public Authority for Housing Welfare announced taking legal action against users of government-owned land plots who had so far not paid the 'symbolic' price of the land nor checked with the Kuwait Credit Bank to finalize the procedures needed to utilize those plots. The authority's official spokesperson Ibrahim Al-Nashi stressed that in a measure meant to protect public funds, the authority found some users had been utilizing these lands for over 10 years without paying or checking with the Credit Bank to arrange for deducting the price from their loans they get to build their houses. "These land plots are still empty," Nashi added, noting owners are requested to check with the Kuwait Credit Bank within 60 days to sign their construction loan applications.

By Meshaal Al-Enezi and A Saleh