KUWAIT: Statistics issued by the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) showed that the ministry laid off 82 employees – 67 citizens and 15 expats – including 20 holding university degrees, 10 holding diplomas, 26 holding school leaving certificates, 17 with intermediate school certificates and nine with primary education or lower.

Meanwhile, well-informed educational sources said only 87 of the teachers locally applying to work in Ministry of Education (MoE) schools met the conditions set by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), though MoE actually needs 780 teachers to fill vacancies in nine subjects for the next academic year (2019-2020). The sources explained that many of the applicants failed to meet the conditions set by CSC, adding the majority of applicants had worked for private schools for over 10 years and now work as translators. “This made MoE contact CSC to exempt these applicants from the job title condition,” the sources said.

2020 census

Well-informed sources at Kuwait’s Central Statistical Bureau said the bureau has not yet started preparing to conduct the 2020 census nor signed the maintenance contracts for the bureau’s infrastructure. The sources added that the census will need huge data inputs and a strong infrastructure using modern automation. “This delay might cause Kuwait to fall behind other GCC states doing the 2020 census at the same time,” the sources underlined, noting that e-system maintenance contracts had not been renewed for months and that this made the bureau stop issuing its annual and quarterly statistical reports.

Resolutions rejected

While endorsing the Municipal Council’s meeting number 5/2019 held on April 1, 2019, Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Fahd Al-Sholah rejected three resolutions the council made on approving a proposal by member Hassan Kamal requesting immediate paving of inner streets in some areas, adding a clause in contracts signed with cleaning companies conditioning that cleaners should be well trained and English-literate and on having a municipality office at the headquarters of the justice ministry.

Delayed tenders

The Ministry of Public Works (MPW) contacted the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) concerning article 85 of the tenders law on depriving some contractors from any further tenders and the projects delayed as a result. In this regard, informed sources said MPW has made a ban list of these companies and contractors and the percentages they had achieved in the projects assigned to them. “Twenty-eight tenders with a total value of KD 206 million are delayed,” the sources said.

Al-Shaheed Park’s third phase

The State Audit Bureau rejected two requests by the Amiri Diwan with regards to the tender of design development, construction and maintaining Al-Shaheed Park’s third phase project of an estimated cost of KD 85.5 million. The bureau also rejected another request by the Diwan to complete and operate the area surrounding Kuwait Motor Town in the south of the country for KD 50 million, Al-Qabas reported recently. The bureau said that the prices mentioned in the two projects were ‘very high’, and noted some irregularities in the presented bids.

By A Saleh