via Arabtimes New Ministers To Be Named ‘Soon’ KUWAIT CITY, Oct 18: The government will announce the names of the new ministers within few days, reports Al-Anba daily quoting an informed source. He revealed that there will not be any major shakeup in the composition of the Cabinet prior to the inauguration of the next parliamentary term on October 28. The source informed that the last date for the new appointees to take the oath of office is Sunday, October 26 so that they can attend the meeting of the Ministers Council scheduled for October 27 and the inauguration of the new parliamentary term on October 28. He revealed that the National Assembly Office will hold a meeting to agree on the mechanism for forming the parliament’s Priorities Committee, which is likely to be headed by MP Yousef Al-Zalzalah. Meanwhile, the source declared that the legislative and executive authorities will meet to agree on the timetable for priorities, explaining that the meeting will be held after the office informs the Cabinet about the composition of the committee. He added that the ministers who are expected to attend the meeting include Minister of Oil and State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Ali Al-Omair, Minister of Communications Essa Ahmad Al-Kandari, and Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and State Minister for Planning and Development Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh. Meanwhile, Ministry of Commerce and Industry is reportedly considering removing baby milk from the ration list after receiving a report from the Ministry of Health about the need to encourage natural breastfeeding, reports Al-Rai daily quoting an informed source. He stressed that nothing will stop the ministry from removing the item, affirming that the ministry insists on supplying items that will be beneficial to citizens’ health rather than items that will be detrimental to their health. He added that any decision contrary to that will cause negative results from the distribution of subsidized items. The source explained that around 5 percent of the entire cost of food subsidy, which normally costs government over KD100 million annually, is covered by baby milk. The ministry has observed that married women, especially young wives, depend on baby milk to feed their babies instead of breastfeeding them because they believe breastfeeding will negatively affect their beauty and change the shape of their breasts. The proposed strategic alternative to the salary scale will change the salaries of about 10,000 employees - about half of workers in 15 ministries, 22 agencies, secretariats general, bureaus and general departments, reports Al-Qabas daily. A source from the Ministry of Finance disclosed the alternative will address discrepancies in salaries, allowances and other entitlements amongst the public sector employees. He said this will form basis for new appointments rather than the usual arbitrary method which shrouds many contracts. He added about 3,150 professions have been categorized from grades 1-18; so the salaries will differ according to these grades and based on the fields of specialization, professions, educational attainment and experience. Sources from labor unions whose representatives attended meetings, in which the alternative strategy-related issues were discussed, alleged the proposal does not do justice to employees; contrary to what the ministry claims. They argued the proposal created sharp disparities or differences between the employment categories.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 10:15:25 +0000
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