KUWAIT: State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah described the unemployment problem as a time-bomb, but said that unemployment rate among Kuwaitis this year is just 4.9 percent which includes some job seekers who were offered jobs but refused it. Speaking during a special session to discuss unemployment among citizens, Sheikh Mohammad said that around 19,500 Kuwaitis are currently listed as unemployed.
He vowed that the government will do anything possible to resolve the problem and provide jobs to all Kuwaitis seeking employment. Officials of the Civil Service Commission said that 82,000 expatriates are among 325,000 people employed by the government, with most of the expatriates concentrated in the ministries of health and education. They also said the state paid around KD1.7 billion between 2001 and the end of last month on social and children allowances for 58,000 Kuwaitis employed in the private sector.
The officials said that out of the 19,500 Kuwaitis listed as unemployed, there are 5,100 females aged 40 and above and 8,751 holding intermediate degrees and lower. MPs however expressed reservations at the government measures regarding unemployment. MP Nasser Al-Marri said Kuwait government needs around 9,000 jobs annually and the number of jobs available in the private sector every year is 109,000 but the private sector has fired 1,750 Kuwaitis. MP Ahmad Lari said the government has not answered several questions about unemployment especially why Kuwaitis seek jobs in the public sector and shun private jobs. He said the government has not provided any strategy to resolve the unemployment problem, adding that there is no true will to resolve the problem.
At the end of the debate, MPs passed non-binding recommendations calling for speeding up the activation of a law stipulating unemployment benefits and for continuing to pay salaries for Kuwaitis dismissed by private sector businesses following the global financial crisis. They also called for starting the privatization program but by safeguarding the rights of Kuwaiti employees and for creating real job opportunities and to accelerate measures to transform Kuwait into a financial and trade hub. During the debate, some MPs clashed with State Minister for Development Affairs Rula Dashti over allegations that she has appointed non- Kuwaitis in key posts.
The minister denied the allegations. In another development, the criminal court yesterday acquitted opposition activist Sager Al- Hashash from charges that he insulted the Amir and undermined his authorities through remarks on his Twitter in October last year. Judge Adnan Al- Jasser pointed out that there has been no evidence that Hashash meant the Amir in his tweets. Earlier in the week, the appeals court cut Hashash twoyear jail term to just one year for similar charges but in another case. The activist is also on trial in a third case.
© Kuwait Times 2013
