Replacement of The Expats in Kuwait with National Manpower
For resolving the demographic imbalance, Kuwait intends to replace the expatriates with the national manpower in different sectors. Hind Al-Sabeeh, the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Economic Development has emphasized this point. The participants of the 4th meeting of the GCC labor and social affairs committees were honored in a ceremony held at Kuwait. Khalifa Al-Ebri, the GCC Secretariat’s assistant secretary for economic affairs appreciated the efforts that were put in hosting the event. Speaking on this ceremony’s sidelines, Sabeeh stated that the GCC labor is allowed to move around the GCC states as per the qualifications. Her response to a question regarding joint GCC market was that it is a GCC demand which is subject to studies. Not only the labor ministry but also other ministries are involved in the proposal. The companies which provided the citizen with job opportunities were thanked by Sana Al-Qimlas, Omniya Company’s CEO while he was addressing the event. A period of 15 days was given to the ministries, by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) for submitting the employees’ percentages list which was made for the year 2019-2020. This list indicated the number of expats who were allowed to function in different departments of the state. As a part of the ‘Kuwaitization’ policy, required steps would be taken for the cancellation of non-Kuwaiti employees’ contracts. This will come into effect in case the ministries fail to send their comments on the list within the stipulated time. Source
No ban on 10 Year Old Cars in Kuwait
The traffic council had called for a ban on 10-year old cars in Kuwait. It was one of the many proposals which were put forward for dealing with traffic crisis and traffic congestion reduction. But this proposal, which was presented by the Environment Public Authority, was declined by the committee of ministerial services because of the unsuitability of the time. The main intention behind presenting this proposal was to ensure a cleaner environment and prevent the pollution that occurs because of the pollutants released by the old cars. Such emissions also have an impact on Kuwait’s climate. The cars are unable to perform well after seven years owing to the high temperatures conditions. Thus, in order to ensure that cars do not cause harmful emissions, the EPA intended to conduct a technical inspection of the cars. But there will be a financial burden on the citizens and expats as per the ministerial committee, because of which this can’t be implemented now. Source
Ban of Expats from Public Hospitals Within 3 Years
In a period less than three years, there will be a ban of expats in the public hospitals, i.e they won’t be allowed for treatment, as per the health ministry. The decision for the exemption of certain expats from higher health fees was proposed for cancellation by the parliament. Besides this, it was demanded to implement the exemption for the domestic helpers, Kuwaiti children as well as the GCC nationals. But the ministry rejected this demand. According to the sources, the citizens are unable to get the proper healthcare services on time because of these group of people who are an extra responsibility for the public hospitals. A large number of expats have been exempted which involves the staff of health ministry, etc. The decision will come into force shortly, as implementing such measures now itself would prove to be a premature decision. This is because neither operations have been initiated by the health insurance hospitals nor the private hospitals have the full potential for the treatment all the expats. Source
New lending rules of Central Bank of Kuwait
According to the Central Bank of Kuwait’s CEO, Waleed Al-Awadhi, between 2000-2017, there has been a growth in the loan portfolio by 14%, from KD 1 billion to KD 12 billion. Different periods witnessed varied growth rates. 90% of the 429,000 Kuwaiti borrowers are below 50 years. Kuwait has a total of 739,450 borrowers with an average salary of KD 1,100, the average consumer loan being KD 3,600 and the average housing loan being KD 23,000. In order to meet the clients’ financial requirements and sustain financial stability, the CBK revealed new lending rules. It revised the rules and regulations for providing personal loans and financing facilities for personal as well as the housing sector. Yousef Al-Obaid, CBK’s Deputy Governor stated that this would be done as per Kuwait economy’s basic indicator movement, the performance of the banks and other factors linked with loans. For consumer purposes, the maximum amount of loans and Islamic financing has been raised to 25 times the borrower’s net monthly salary or KD 25,000 at maximum. In the case of housing purposes, the maximum limit for loans and Islamic financing was unchanged at KD 70,000, thus the net amount becomes KD 95,000 which a customer can attain. Any kind of unjustified price spike of the commodities and services has to be averted by the Ministry of Commerce and industry as per CBK’s new lending rules. The client who has applied for a loan must be subject to a thorough financial and credit check, along with his purpose of taking the loan. The new regulations mandate the financial institutions granting the loans, to perform these checks. The existing borrowers can avail a new loan only if 30% of their installments have been paid on time. The present contract will be dropped once the new loan is approved which will be based on a new contract. This will be done while respecting the monthly installment’s maximum percentage, which is the employee’s net 40% of the net salary and retirees 30%. In case of consumer loan, the retired clients can ask for an extension of the installments for a year from the original 5 years and for a housing loan, 5 years extension can be asked from the original 15 years. This will result in a decrease in the monthly installments but 30% below the retiree’s salary. The indemnities or the cash in the client’s account can’t be used by the financial institutions for any purpose unless the client has given a written approval and interest mustn’t be charged for the remaining period in case of the early repayment of the loan.
MOI’s Instruction to Follow During Heavy Rain and Flooding
Recently Kuwait has experienced heavy rain and flooding. There are a set of necessary instructions given by the department of relation and security information of the Interior Ministry. Citizens and expatriates are suggested to follow these instructions in these circumstances: Follow the news when there are warnings about flooding. Be cautious and do not ignore warnings and instructions. Helping others should not constitute a danger to you or those you are helping. If there is heavy flooding with the possibility of reaching inside the home, move your belongings to the upper floors, provided you have time, and cut the power. Do not attempt to move or touch fallen objects or wires. Do not use radios or mobile phones in open areas. Inform the civil defense department on 1804000 in case of any danger. Do not go to a place where water has gathered, because you may obstruct rescuers and emergency work. Do not use wet electric appliances until you are sure they are dry and safe to use. If you are driving, stay away from low-lying areas. Leave the vehicle if it encounters any problem during flooding. Source
Six hours to control the fire at Amghara, No injuries.
Yesterday a fire engulfed some wood and cable containers in Amghara scrapyard. After reporting as an emergency, some occupational firefighters Including Tahreer, Ardiya, Hilali responded immediately. Nearby fire stations came to help and it takes six hours to control over the flames. Material losses had incurred while no injuries were reported. Meanwhile, a fire broke out in a chalet of a hotel in Al-Bidaa. It is assuming that the fire started in a kitchen on the ground floor and got spread. It made the chalet evacuated and as a result, the flames were put out badly. No injuries were reported as well. There is an open investigation of finding the causes of both fires. Source
It is raining heavily in Kuwait
It has started raining heavily from this afternoon until recently tonight. Immediately people started sharing their raining photos and videos. We urge people to drive safely as we have personally noticed many accidents while driving fifth ring road (Shaikh Zayed’s road). The main reason for this small to big accidents is driving while texting, you know since it was a traffic jam, everyone tends to text and drive to kill time. Here are few media shared over the internet in the past few hours about Kuwait’s heavy rain. Heavy rain!! #Kuwait 😇😇 pic.twitter.com/AQZ9NTXXDF — | Vishnu Raj | (@vichuzworld) November 4, 2018 It’s cloudy dark here in kuwait pic.twitter.com/Tiz8vQpecY — ZAFAR SHEKHANI (@ZAFARSHEKHANI2) November 4, 2018
VIVA Telecom Acquires QualityNET
VIVA Telecom had reached an agreement with Bahrain Telecom Company BATELCO in order to acquire its Kuwait based Internet Service Provider, QualityNet. The news was published this morning in Kuwaiti newspapers such as ALQABAS. Acquiring major companies should always benefit the end consumer, therefore, we hope for the best from this deal.