MP seeks add-ons to labor law
KUWAIT CITY: Rapporteur of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee MP Moham-mad Al-Kandari has underscored the need to pass other laws to protect the rights of private sector employees and domestic workers. Al-Kandari also commended the Parliament for approving, in principle, the new Private Sector Labor Law despite the need to amend some articles which, he hopes, will be included in the second reading, so that the law can be comprehensive and complete in all aspects. Without elaborating on what changes he exactly required, he urged the government to present proposals, which guarantee the rights of all expatriate workers. He added that some proposals in this connection are being studied to give these workers their rights and privileges.
Al-Kandari also said the executive authority should address the problems of expatriate workers, especially human trafficking because this was the main reason why Kuwait had been included among countries which are said to be involved in human trade. On another development, members of the Investigative Committee tasked to look into the oil sector issues like the Dow Chemical deal and fourth refinery project met for the first time Sunday and appointed MP Abdullah Al-Roumi as chairman and MP Rija Al-Hujailan as rapporteur. Al-Hujailan revealed the committee agreed to hold its second meeting on Feb 16. He also asked the government to immediately provide all the information required for the committee to start investigating the Dow Chemical deal, fourth refinery project, allocating 25 percent of oil revenues for the state reserves, and the issue Arab Oil Company (AOC). He also unveiled plans of the committee to deliberate on the information in its next meeting as a prelude to setting up its work plan.
Al-Hujailan, on the other hand, called on the concerned authorities to quickly take concrete steps to address the economic crisis. He also emphasized the need to hold all those behind the collapse of some companies accountable, asserting these companies have incurred huge losses due to the negligence of their boards of directors, not the global financial meltdown. "We should support companies facing real economic problems provided their assets are safe. However, some companies will not survive even if they obtain support from the government due to their administrative problems. In this case, we should evaluate the assets, investment portfolios, and behavior of the administrators of these companies to find appropriate solutions to the problem," Al-Hujailan opined.
On a related issue, MP Dr Mohammed Al-Hatlani argued it is illogical for the government to establish funds to support the investment companies without addressing the loans write-off issue. He said the parliamentary session earmarked for the discussion of the economic crisis on Feb 10 is a chance for the government to prove its commitment to solve the loans issue.
On the grilling of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Al-Hatlani agreed that MPs have the right to grill erring ministers but is not good for the country if the parliamentarians will grill the premier due to controversies surrounding the Dow Chemical deal. "The timing is not right, especially since the Parliament is now close to passing the Private Sector Labor Law. An investigative committee has been formed, which represents the opinion of all MPs, so we should respect it and wait for its report on the issue," he added.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the Parliament Jassem Al-Khorafi said he will nominate former MP Abdulaziz Al-Adasani as head of the Audit Bureau in the parliamentary session on Feb 10, adding he believes a majority of parliamentarians support this nomination despite a few holdouts.
Meanwhile, five parliamentarians on Sunday presented a draft bill requiring the government to 'purchase' the consumer loans of citizens and reschedule payments.
The proponents of the bill - MPs Dr Daifallah Buramiya, Ali Al-Deqbasi, Saleh Ashour, Abdullah Al-Fahma and Saadoun Al-Otaibi said in the explanatory note "the economic condition of citizens with unpaid consumer loans has worsened and the magnitude of this problem is beyond the government's procedures and abilities". They went on to add that the Needy Fund, set up in 2007 with a value of KD 300 million to help citizens pay their debts, has only assisted 8000 of the 275,000 borrowers. These MPs felt duty-bound to look to other means to help the citizens, especially as the whole world is still grappling with the economic crisis.
Article One of the bill states that it is incumbent upon the government to purchase the consumer loans of citizens obtained from banks and investment companies, not exceeding KD 70,000 per borrower.
This move will cancel all interests on the loans as the government will reschedule payment. Borrowers should then pay the loans monthly for 15 years. They can also define the period of payment but salary deductions should not be more than 25 percent of the borrower's monthly salary.
Article Three prohibits banks and investment companies from granting loans with interests, which should be replaced with Sharia-compliant loans.
Article Four stipulates the transformation of the banking system to Sharia-compliant methods which, the parliamentarians claim, will be more successful and secure and is being adopted by the West due to the current economic downturn.
As for banks rejecting the Islamic system, they can construct affiliated branches or companies that provide Sharia-compliant services.
The bill also specified the ceiling for citizens loans, which should not be more than 15 times the borrower's salary and monthly payments should not be more than 50 percent of the salary or pension.
Article Six defines the loan payment procedures by the government to banks and companies operating according to the Islamic Sharia. Citizens benefiting from this bill are permitted to take other loans according to the tenets of Islamic Sharia as long as the monthly installment will not exceed 50 percent of the salary. The bill also obligates the government to rehire Kuwaitis who have been dismissed from their jobs due to their failure to pay their debts and were either imprisoned or chased by security forces and thus failed to go to work. Article Nine excludes ministers, parliamentarians and their first relatives from being beneficiaries of this law. Money required to execute this bill will be taken from the state's general reserves and loans paid by citizens will be returned to these reserves. Bouramiya said the discussion on any draft bill for writing off consumer loans was postponed to collect more signatures, indicating he has, so far, collected 24 signatures.
By Dahlia Kholaif and Abubakar A. Ibrahim
© Arab Times 2009
