Raja Bou Arki, Assistant Undersecretary of Education for Administrative Affairs and Administrative Development, told an Arab daily that service outlets have been assigned in schools for the academic year 2022-2023. The official also said that cleaning companies operate at the beginning of this month, including in the Jahra area, and there is no shortage of cleaning workers.

Until all companies begin their work early next month, Bou Arki said, the ministry would keep the current number of cleaners in place. If all contracts are valid, service outlets in the educational sector will return to their work centers in Farwaniya if all contracts are valid. In addition, the official mentioned that the administrative sector is awaiting the approval of the Civil Service Commission in terms of outsourcing teachers to initiate the recruitment procedures and setting the date for the arrival of the first batch from Jordan. A work team will be formed in the administrative sector to issue entry visas and clear the procedures for their appointment in coordination with the Ministries of Interior and Health.

About 100 employees in a government agency returned their salaries to the State treasury; after they were referred to the Public Prosecution for forging their attendance fingerprints as it was discovered that one person used fake fingerprints to register the attendance of all the accused, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting a reliable source.

The source confirmed that the prosecution interrogated these employees, who took the initiative to return their salaries during their pretrial detention; hoping the court will impose lighter punishment in view of their confession. The source confirmed the defendants are being tried at the Criminal Court for receiving salaries without working. Their lawyers intend to demand for lighter punishment, the source added.

During an interview with Al-Rai Arabic newspaper, which reported air pollution levels in Kuwait City according to the American index, the Director of the Air Quality Monitoring Department at the Environment Public Authority, Eng. Sherif Al-Khayyat, confirmed that “environmental specialists know that this American indicator depends on measuring the concentration of suspended dust particles in the atmosphere while air quality in cities is measured by monitoring concentrations of gaseous pollutants, including sulfur oxides, carbon oxides, nitrogen oxides, ozone and fine particles.” Moreover, this indicator, he said, “does not take into account the dust originating from the deserts. Throughout the year, Kuwait is affected by sand and dust storms, most of which originate outside Kuwait's borders.

He added, “The American air quality standards differ from air quality standards in the State of Kuwait, and each country has its own standards based on its national conditions, so these classifications have no basis in health at the national level.” Al-Khayyat affirmed that “that the EPA has a system for monitoring atmospheric air pollutants and for this purpose 15 stations are distributed over some residential areas in the State of Kuwait to monitor all the basic pollutants recommended by the World Health Organization whether the atmospheric air, dust particles or water vapor particles of small sizes.

"People with respiratory ailments should avoid going outside or engaging in outdoor activities when the humidity is over 90%." He added, "Everyone can view the air quality index in the residential area by visiting Beatona. In the past, the American Air Quality Index (AQI) published by the Swiss company IQ Air had placed Kuwait City eighth globally, and first in the Arab world, on the list of the most polluted cities. The Pakistani city of Lahore topped the list followed by the Indian city of Delhi, the Chinese city of Chongqing, the Indian city of Mumbai, then the Chinese Hangzhou, the Indonesian city of Jakarta, followed by the city of Dhaka in Bangladesh in that order. After Kuwait (in eighth place), the city of Kathmandu in Nepal ranked ninth and the Chinese city of Wuhan tenth.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Khaled Al-Saeed said the ministry is currently focusing on the stage of building and developing the health system after the Corona pandemic, indicating that it is in the process of launching a number of health centers, including the Abu Fatira Health Center, which will open this week and the Sabah Al-Ahmad City Health Center C next week, reports Al-Jarida daily.

Minister of Health, Dr. Khaled Al-Saeed unveils the opening of the West Abdullah Al-Mubarak Primary Health Care Center.
In a statement to reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of the West Abdullah Al-Mubarak Health Center on Sunday, Minister Al-Saeed added that the ministry continues to work on health development projects, including the Al- Sabah Hospital project, Al-Adan and Al-Farwaniya hospitals, which began receiving patients gradually.

He explained this month will witness the transfer of patients from Al- Adan and Mubarak Al-Kabeer hospitals to Jaber Hospital in southern Surra, in addition to allocating the new Al-Farwaniya Hospital for citizens only based on the decision of the Council of Ministers. He pointed out that the ministry’s strategy also includes expanding primary health care services and upgrading their quality, noting that the total number of centers in the country has reached 112 distributed across the country’s various governorates.

He added that it also includes 26 centers in the Capital Health District, 19 centers in the Hawalli Health District, 31 centers in the Ahmadi Health District, and 14 centers in the Jahra Health District, explaining that the number of centers in the Farwaniya Health District has reached 22. He stated that the ministry’s policy and vision within the health development strategies and plans aims to create more models of integrated hospitals in the country that provide specialized and accurate health and medical services, in addition to public health services in accordance with the latest international standards that take into account the rights, safety and privacy of patients. In turn, the Ministry’s official spokesman, Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad said that primary health care centers are among the basic foundations of health systems globally and are the first point of contact between the references and those who want services, pointing out that the ministry’s vision in the next stage is integrated hospitals in all specialties.

Al-Sanad indicated that the diversity in providing services aims to serve the citizen and relieve pressure on specialized centers, which is reflected in the quality of the health service provided and the reduction of waiting period. For his part, the Director of the Farwaniya Health District, Dr. Mohammed Al-Rashidi said the West Abdullah Al-Mubarak Center is designed according to the latest engineering standards, and among its most prominent features is the generation of a large part of its renewable electrical energy needs using solar panels.

Council member Abdullatif Al-Daei proposed that pedestrian and bicycle lanes be made on roads and sidewalks within the municipality.

In his proposal, Al-Daei stressed the importance of providing safe sidewalks for pedestrians on internal and main roads and to ensure the requirements such as providing appropriate shading, provide facilities such as sitting chairs, garbage bins, provide greenery etc.

In addition, he suggests providing space for bicycles and light means of transportation for all age groups, especially those with disabilities.

Furthermore, he suggested using heat-resistant materials and taking care of rainwater drainage if necessary.

According to the Ministry of Interior, remarkable facilities continue to be offered to those arrested for violating labor and residence laws who are awaiting their departure. In parallel with ongoing security campaigns by the concerned authorities, some embassies are working to finalize procedures for citizens stranded in Kuwait, according to Al-Qabas daily. In this regard, the expatriates who are in violation of the labor and residency laws are provided with an exit visa as soon as they get clearance of their residency status of Kuwait and after paying the fines.

The process is coordinated with their embassies. In this regard, the Embassy of the Philippines in Kuwait has completed the procedures for 630 Filipino nationals, who were among those arrested and sheltered in the deportation center. Ongoing inspection campaigns in various areas of the country resulted in the arrest of hundreds of law violators among domestic workers or holders of Article 18 permit against whom absconding reports were filed, and they were sheltered in deportation center. These campaigns are part of the efforts to remove marginal workers and fugitives from the labor market.

Kuwaiti citizens objected to being forced to pay for the flight tickets of their absconded workers after they were arrested. In an interview with the daily, they demanded that the minister of interior and director general of the Public Authority for Manpower should work on amending the provisions of the domestic labor law, and avoid obligating employers to pay for the tickets of the fugitives and absconders, especially since they refuse to work, adding that some workers have remained absconding for years without being arrested.

A complaint was filed on the first day of the worker's absconding, and the sponsor was required to pay the value of the ticket to deport him. The citizens insisted that this decision must be addressed, and the violating workers must be charged with the value of the ticket, and those who are deported must be blacklisted. They warned about a “black market” that lures domestic workers and urges them to flee from their sponsors’ homes to work in other fields in exchange for high sums of salary ranging between KD 250 and KD 300 per month. The citizens called on the concerned authorities to approve raising the value of the financial violations against the violators, especially the fugitive workers who were found working in the private sector.

Furthermore, many accredited embassies in the country provide temporary travel documents and tickets for their violating or stranded workers without violating employers' rights. In this regard, informed sources affirmed that pending disputes with companies or owners of domestic workers are being resolved in the event that there are financial claims or cases filed against the worker other than the absconding case.

In coordination with the embassies, the violating worker was granted an exit permit after settling his status and paying the fines. The Philippine Embassy, through two trips in August and September, was able to complete the deportation procedures for 630 Filipinos, including 22 children and 30 sick persons, who were among those arrested and sheltered in the deportation center.

In a video report published on YouTube, the Philippine ABS-CBN news website reported that 343 Filipino workers were on board the flight which departed Kuwait on September 5. Most of the returnees are domestic workers, and that the flight is the second from Kuwait and the largest in terms of the total number of departures.

During the first half of this year, the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) arrested 606 violating domestic workers who had left their sponsors to work in the private sector. This means that the authority every month seizes 100 fugitive domestic workers who work for other parties in violation of the law.

Criminal security staff from the Ministry of Interior's Capital Investigation Department arrested a person selling medical records with old dates for KD 10 at a health center.

He was referred to the competent authorities in order to take the necessary legal measures against him.

Sheikh Talal Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Acting Interior Minister, led two extensive security operations on Saturday to apprehend violators, wanted people, and outlaws in the areas of Maidan Hawalli and Khaitan in Farwaniya.

As reported by the General Administration of Relations and Security Media, the two campaigns were part of a series of security and traffic campaigns throughout the country conducted by the Ministry of Interior. In the process, violators of the residency law and criminally wanted individuals were arrested, pending cases were opened, and persons without civil IDs were referred to the competent authority for legal action. Security forces closed the entrances and exits of the two areas mentioned above during the two campaigns, while checkpoints were set up with security patrols checking identities during the campaigns.

Security and traffic campaigns will continue, the ministry said, while cordoning off the Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh areas of Farwaniya and Mahboula governorates in the Ahmadi governorate to arrest violators and impose the prestige of the law. In order to avoid legal accountability, everyone is expected to cooperate with the security men and not shelter or cover up any violations of the residence law.

Among the security leaders accompanying Sheikh Talal Khaled during the two campaigns were Lieutenant-General Anwar Al-Barjas, Assistant Undersecretary for Traffic and Operations Affairs Major General Jamal Al-Sayegh, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Security Affairs Major General Abdullah Al-Rajeeb, and others.

The Kuwait City ranked eighth globally, and first in the Arab world, on the list of the most polluted cities, according to the American Air Quality Index (AQI) published by the Swiss company IQ Air, reports Al-Rai daily.

The Pakistani city of Lahore ranked first, followed by the Indian city of Delhi, then the Chinese city of Chongqing, the Indian city of Mumbai, then the Chinese Hangzhou, the Indonesian city of Jakarta, followed by the city of Dhaka in Bangladesh. After the City of Kuwait, the Nepalese city of Kathmandu is ranked ninth and the Chinese city of Wuhan tenth.

The American index measures air quality, according to several sections — Good if the score is from 0 to 50; moderate if it is between 51 and 100; unhealthy for those who have allergies if it is between 101 and 150; unhealthy if it is between 151 and 200; completely unhealthy if it the score is between 201 and 300 and dangerous if it reads 301 and above. This indicator measures five major pollutants — ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter.

Al-Rai daily reports that the corpse found in the desert farm in Sabah Al-Ahmed belongs to an Indian.

According to security sources the victim’s clothes were drenched in his blood and there were injury marks on the corpse.

The daily did not give more details. A murder case has been registered at the area police station. Police are looking for the suspect.

As a protest against their transfer from their work centers to new locations, hygiene inspectors at the municipality's branches have called a sit-in. Al-Rai learned from its sources in the Kuwait Municipality that the Minister of State for Municipal Affairs and Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Rana Al-Faris, said the decision was in line with the work requirements, while finding a solution to the inspectors’ demands in line with the decisions of the Civil Service Commission.

Sources confirmed that the decision is aimed at reorganizing the work mechanism, specifically that transfer decisions will be made with the same job title and grade. As part of the decision, remote area allowances will not be disbursed to all recipients in order to change work centers.

Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of Social Affairs and Community Development Fahd Al- Shariaan issued a Ministerial Resolution No. 139 of 2022, the executive regulations of Law No. 22 of 2014 regarding private nurseries, which included a set of rules and obligations of the license application, the objectives of nurseries, the services they provide, and the activities that are permitted and forbidden, reports Al- Qabas daily.

According to the decision, the third article allows individuals, public and private institutions, companies, public benefit associations, or any business entity whose nature of work or the conditions of its employees require the existence of a nursery, to apply for a license to establish the nursery in accordance with the provisions of the law. Article 30 stipulates that the value of fees should not exceed 1800 dinars per child for the academic year at a monthly premium of 200 dinars, and that the Ministry sets fees for nurseries in coordination with the concerned authorities, taking into account the type of services and activities provided.

Forbids
Article 4 forbids the issuance of several licenses to the licensee of a nursery, with the permissibility of opening one or more branches with the same name as the nursery, while Article 8 prohibits assigning the license to others without the written approval of the Ministry. In order to obtain the license, according to Article 12, the applicant must be a Kuwaiti, hold a diploma or must be an university graduate and not work in a government or private entity.

The decision gives one month to study the license application through a specialized committee, after submitting it to the competent department, with a maximum limit of two months from the date of submitting the application. The license is issued according to Article 16 for a period of 5 years, and the license holder must review the Ministry at least 4 months before its expiry.

In Article 22 of Chapter Six, stipulates that the administrative and supervisory staff working in the nursery should be female only, for the positions of “house director, supervisor, assistant superintendent, secretary.” It also stipulates that the director of the nursery be a university graduate in the educational field or a diploma holder with experience of not less than 5 years. Article 23 defines the supervision of the children in its various states.

The senior management of Kuwait Municipality has reiterated the need to implement resolution number 215 of 2009 on limiting the working hours of shops located in private residential areas until 12:00 midnight maximum; except the central markets and pharmacies, reports Al-Rai daily quoting sources from the Municipality.

Sources said the approval of the Ministry of Interior must be obtained for exemption requests. Sources revealed the concerned department in the Municipality received several complaints about the decision, but this is beyond its jurisdiction. Sources clarified that the Cabinet assigned such task to the Interior Ministry in 2007. Sources added one of the most important proposals that require the approval of the ministry is to allow some establishments to operate online after the specified working hours.

According to Forbes Middle East, eight Kuwaiti family businesses made the list of the "Top 100 Arab Family Businesses" on Wednesday.

In order to create its annual rankings, Forbes Middle East considers the company's size and value, its performance and activity in the previous year, its diversity by industry and geography, its age and legacy, as well as the number of employees.

The eight companies from Kuwait include Al-Ghanim Industries, Al-Shaya Group, Morad Yousuf Behbehani Group, Al-Sayer Holding, Bukhamseen Holding Group, Al-Mulla Group, Marafie group and Boodai Group.

The Saudi family business sector dominated the ranking, with 37 companies, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 25, and Kuwait with eight.

Government is aiming to review the fees for all services provided by the state to citizens and expatriates in its various ministries and institutions. Government is planning to differentiate the fees for government services provided between citizens and expatriates, according to the type of service, local Arabic daily Al-Rai reported.

 According to recent statistics, the number of Kuwaitis represents about 31 percent of the total population compared to 69 percent for non-Kuwaitis. Government services are mostly provided with the same fees for citizens and expatriates, while studies confirm the possibility that these fees can be different for Kuwaitis and for residents, report added.

Various ministries and government bodies are working on preparing detailed regulations for the services they provide and their fees, as the Ministry of Finance requested the classification of these services and determine the type of beneficiaries among citizens, resident expatriates or visitors, and so on, in preparation for a comprehensive review, report said.

Source: IIK

Al-Qabas daily reports that the Ministry of Health will continue to import medicines and medical supplies in order to safeguard the strategic pharmaceutical stockpile and ensure that patients receive their medications on a regular basis.

It was reported to the daily that the ministry has received approvals to purchase injections for diabetic patients at an estimated cost of 3.8 million dinars, as well as "syringes" for cancer patients, which will cost 768,000 dinars, as well as "sprays" for respiratory patients at a cost of 1.5 million dinars. The sources added to Al- Qabas that the ministry is in the process of importing “injections” as antibiotics for 275,000 dinars.

The Ministry of Interior has warned drivers against driving construction vehicles on public roads unless it is extremely necessity, noting that construction vehicles will be seized and the driver will be held for violation.

As per the Ministry of Interior it stated “It was noticed in the recent period that some construction vehicles were plying on the roads, in order to protect the drivers of vehicles and roads from being damaged, instructions have been issued to withdraw the license and seize the person and the vehicle for each violator. 

According to Al-Qabas daily, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today launched a joint campaign for Pakistan relief. During the first hours of the campaign, more than 6,397 citizens and residents came forward, and made serious donations for the support and relief of those afflicted in Pakistan. From the start of the donation campaign, they collected 148,000 dinars in less than an hour. In the campaign, only financial electronic donations were allowed, whether through Knet or Visa and MasterCard, which allowed the participation of donors from outside Kuwait.

Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Community Development, Musallam Al-Subaie, said Kuwait has a long history of charity work that has made Kuwait a station of peace and goodwill. Al-Subaie said in a press statement on the occasion of International Charitable Day, which falls on September 5 of each year, that Kuwait contributed to alleviating the suffering of the poor and afflicted in various parts of the world, pointing out that charity work is rooted in Kuwait and means a lot to it and is an integral part of its fragrant journey. He pointed out that the Ministry of Social Affairs urges charity work as a means of permanent support to the needy and downtrodden and those afflicted by man-made and natural calamities, and to build bridges of human communication to achieve this noble goal.

The Ministry of Social Affairs, represented by the Charitable Societies Department, has handed over "usernames" and "passwords" to 64 charitable societies for use in the automated donation collection system, according to reliable sources in the ministry. Something that the ministry is working on launching soon following the completion of the phase of collecting and entering data for each charitable society separately, reports Al-Anba daily.

According to the sources, the ministry will upload charitable projects on the special platform in accordance with the rules and conditions applicable to requests to implement charitable projects inside and outside Kuwait. It falls within six models – construction (internal and external), social development (internal and external), and sponsorships (internal and external), various projects (internal and external), external relief campaigns, and seasonal (internal and external) campaigns. They affirmed that the approved electronic mechanism for collecting donations enjoys a high degree of confidentiality in preserving the data and information of the charitable societies by up to 100 percent. It is expected that the automated system will be launched before the end of next year, according to sources.

A new electronic bank that distributes seeds and helps create a greener Kuwait has been launched by environmental advocates. Called “Kuwait Seed Bank”, the aim of the project is to distribute sustainable plants, as well as, plants that have gone extinct but were refurbished through imports.

A participant in the project, Saad Al-Hayyan, told an Arab newspaper that it aims to contribute to the supply of all seeds. The project also aims for the cultivation and development of greenery for cities and deserts in order to attain a healthy environment and sustainable natural resources through the efforts of local experts.

In addition, Al-Hayyan said the seed bank is the first of its kind in Kuwait and aims to cultivate sustainable and indigenous plants, even those that were extinct. The bank has also announced a voluntary initiative to distribute 30,000 seeds consisting of sustainable and indigenous plants to replenish the environment.

Al-Qabas daily reports that the Public Authority for Manpower has activated a new mechanism to protect the financial rights of private sector and domestic workers. The daily has learned that the concerned PAM departments are now requesting the worker’s fingerprint on the work permit cancellation form to ensure that he/ she receives his full financial dues. The same sources said that this step would ensure that the terms of the clearance between the worker and the employer are finally met, and that the first party obtains its financial dues.

According to the sources, the form prepared by the authority and uploaded to the automated system is in five different languages and bears the responsibility between both parties.

According to the sources, the Authority's Labor Relations Department continues to receive complaints and labor observations every day in its various departments and works diligently to resolve any issues between workers and employers as well as to apply the law appropriately. The sources pointed out that canceling the work permit is only after the worker receives his dues, and the transfer can be obtained based on the regulations in force with the authority in the event that there is another employer to whom the worker’s file is transferred.

In the private sector, both citizens and residents, the authority plans to launch an electronic system to follow up on the disbursement of salaries. An information systems department at the Authority has recently developed a system for disbursing salaries to private sector workers, and the system has been presented to the Inspection Department, according to the sources. By using the developed system, the Inspection Department will follow up on salary certificates and the extent of commitment to payment of financial dues as well as apply regulations and penalties to those who do not comply.