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Join Date: 04 Mar 2015
Location:  KuwaitPosts: 87 |
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Official defends drivers’ deportation – Urban cleaning fee proposed – Committee mulls scenario |
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Official defends drivers’ deportation – Urban cleaning fee proposed – Committee mulls scenarios to curb demographic imbalance
KUWAIT: Kuwait is mulling stopping recruitment of expatriates in the public sector, make it mandatory for workers recruited for government projects to leave after the end of their contracts, and adopting a quota Official defends drivers’ deportation – Urban cleaning fee proposed – Committee mulls scenarios to curb demographic imbalance system for expatriate communities as part of efforts to curb the demographic imbalance in the country. Those are the main recommendations of a state committee formed to address the demographic imbalance problem, based on a study that provides accurate diagnoses and present the best suggested solutions through a comprehensive vision for the benefit of the national component of the social structure, Al-Rai reported yesterday. The committee was formed by the Cabinet last year and is chaired by Hind Al- Subaih, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and State Minister of Planning and Development. It includes members from the interior and foreign ministries, as well as the Central Statistical Bureau, the Supreme Council of Planning and Development, Manpower Public Authority, Manpower and Government Restructure Program and Public Authority of Civil Information. New controls Kuwait until last month had suspended free recruitment of foreigners in the private sector pending the introduction of new controls that limit the local market’s dependency on foreign labor. Exceptions were given during that period for certain professions as well as recruitment in the public sector. The committee has recognized that as part of the problem, and recommended a stoppage of hiring expatriates in the public sector except in fields where there is lack of national manpower to fill the void. The social affairs ministry and Manpower Public Authority said foreign recruitment would reopen this month but with controls, mainly preventing employers from hiring more than 25 percent of their required manpower from outside the country. Kuwaitis’ percentage among the population dropped to 31 percent compared to 69 percent of expatriates at the end of 2014. Facing these figures, the committee sought to find a new recruitment mechanism that bears into account the state’s demographic structure in order to replace the current criteria which are primarily dependant on the labor market’s requirements and employers’ demands without following a unified policy that limits the increase of expatriate labor forces. The committee also recognized the need to address the ‘urban division’ of expatriates and introduce a fair geographical distribution that prevents crowding of citizens of certain nationalities in specific areas. To help solve the problem, the committee recommended building labor cities and force companies that execute state projects to provide suitable accommodation for workers and make sure that the laborers leave Kuwait after the project is finished. Seven aspects The committee has recognized seven aspects in the demographic imbalance, according to sources familiar with the study. They are: The numerical disparity between the Kuwaiti and expatriate communities, imbalance between age groups, imbalances in qualitative composition, imbalances in labor forces, imbalances in the occupational distribution among expatriates, imbalances in domestic workers’ relative distribution and imbalance in the number of each expatriate community. Regarding the last aspect, the study recognizes a ‘large imbalance’ that created a situation where the Indian and Egyptian communities make up 33 percent and 23 percent of the expatriate population respectively, compared to communities of other countries including Bangladesh and the Philippines (7 percent each), Syria (6 percent), Pakistan (5 percent), Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka (4 percent each), Jordan (3 percent), Nepal, Lebanon, Ethiopia, and Iran (2 percent each). Regarding domestic helpers, the study indicates that their numbers reached nearly 567,000, making up 23 percent of the labor market and 14 percent of the population. Their numbers compared to Kuwaitis reaches 44 percent, and 20 percent compared to expatriates. Proposed scenarios According to the sources, the committee came up with six scenarios to achieve a suitable growth rate for Kuwaitis, and recommended eliminating at least three. The scenarios are: • Limiting expatriates’ growth rate to 4.26 percent based on a 2013 study. This scenario leads Kuwaitis’ percentage to reach 25.4 percent, thus worsening the demographic imbalance. • Maintaining expatriates’ growth rate at 3.13 percent, which is the same rate recorded in the past five years. This scenario leads Kuwaitis’ percentage to reach 30.35 percent in 2030, also failing to address the demographic imbalance. • Limiting expatriates’ growth rate to the same rate of Kuwaitis’ growth, thus maintaining Kuwaitis’ percentage among the population (31 percent) and keeping the current status quo. • Limiting expatriates’ growth rate to 2 percent, thus leading Kuwaitis’ percentage to reach 33 percent by 2030. • Limiting expatriates’ growth rate to 1 percent, thus leading Kuwaitis’ percentage to reach 37 percent by 2030. • Stopping expatriates’ growth, thus leading Kuwaitis’ percentage to reach 41 percent by 2030. Drivers’ deportation In other news, the Interior Ministry is finalizing procedures to deport 14 expatriates caught driving without a license, said Maj Gen Abdullah Al-Muhanna, Assistant Undersecretary for Traffic Affairs. The deportees include six Egyptian nationals, three Indians, one American, one Bosnian, one Iraqi, one Lebanese and one Syrian, Muhanna told Al-Rai. He also responded to accusations of taking arbitrary measures against expatriate drivers, arguing that expats who put others’ lives in danger by driving without a license “must bear the consequences of their actionsâ€. Cleaning fee In the meantime, a Municipal Council member revealed a plan currently under study to collect an annual KD 25 fee from every expatriate for public cleaning services, Al-Rai reported. Attorney Abdullah Al- Kandari explained that Municipality is seeking an annual ‘urban cleaning fee’ to be paid by expatriates when they renew their visas. He defended the proposal by saying that it can reflect positively on the environment, and said that similar fees have been enforced in nearby countries. ‘Kuwaitization’ Separately, Minister of Justice, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Yaqoub Al- Sane reiterated his position to replace expatriates in the Awqaf ministry with Kuwaiti manpower, saying that exceptions should be given to ‘capable’ foreigners and based on real needs for their services. “Since the demographic imbalance is a hot topic today, I decided to start with myself and enforce the replacement policy (in the awqaf ministry),†Sane told Al-Anbaa daily. — Al-Rai and Al-Anbaa Source:kuwaittimes http://news.kuwaittimes.net/official-defends-drivers-deportation-urban-cleaning-fee-proposed-committee-mulls-scenarios-to-curb-demographic-imbalance/ |
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