Meetings soon to discuss new decisions "that will lead to further progress"

KUWAIT: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh honors an engineer during a ceremony held by the Engineers Without Borders Society yesterday. - Photos by Joseph Shagra

KUWAIT: Progress has been made towards adjusting Kuwait's demography, reducing the number of expats and regulating the recruitment of skilled, well-trained and qualified workers who will benefit Kuwait's labor market, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh said. Speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony held by the Engineers Without Borders Society to honor the winners of a competition it had organized, Sabeeh said a meeting will be held soon between the Public Authority for Manpower's board of directors and the supreme demography committee to discuss new decisions that will lead to further progress. Saabeeh said the meeting was delayed due to waiting until the authority's board of directors was formed.

In another concern, Sabeeh said work is in progress to finish electronic linkage with relevant Ministry of Interior (MoI) bodies concerned with domestic helpers, whose responsibility is due to be transferred to the manpower authority, noting that officials promised to finish the linkage by the beginning of October. Responding to a question about Al-Durra Company and its latest developments, Sabeeh stressed that the ministry cooperates with various bodies including the company itself and the Union of Consumer Cooperative Societies to follow up the company's responsibilities after its chairman resigned from office.

Work permits

Chairman of the Public Authority for Manpower's employees syndicate Fahd Al-Ossaimi stressed his full support to the private sector employees union's demands to cancel work permits of citizens working in the private sector as soon as possible. Ossaimi said merging the manpower authority with the Management and Government Restructuring Program (MGRP) was a daring step aiming to facilitate citizens' work in the private sector by cutting paperwork without having to check with any other government bodies.

Sabah Al-Salem University

Education Minister Hamed Al-Azmi announced that four colleges will open at the new Sabah Al-Salem University by the beginning of the academic year 2019-2020. Azmi explained that the colleges of administrative sciences, education, arts and life sciences would be the first to be opened, followed by those of science, engineering and petroleum, sharia, social sciences and law in Sept 2020. Other colleges will be opened according to a preset schedule.

Responding to a parliamentary inquiry by MP Osama Al-Shaheen, Azmi said the university council had issued a memo to be extended to the cabinet recommending moving Kuwait University into Sabah Al-Salem University City and establishing independent government universities at the current Kuwait university campuses to be supervised by the supreme government universities council. Azmi added that Kuwait University is keen on avoiding coeducation in terms of classes at the current and future campuses. "Two separate campuses for male and female students will be built at Sabah Al-Salem University City," he underlined.

School fire under control

A fire broke out yesterday at the main power unit at the private Fahaheel National Joint School, which was controlled in record time without any casualties. Arab private schools manager at the private education department Najat Al-Ruwaished stressed that as soon as the fire started, all students were immediately evacuated by the school's emergency team that also called firemen. Ruwaished said that fourth grade pupil Malak Ramzi and the school's maintenance technician were rushed to Adan Hospital for medical tests and were soon discharged.

By Meshaal Al-Enezi