NEw SARS-likE viRUS EMERGES iN MidEASt - Kuwait Times

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By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Besides the regular problems in business with customers and products, small businesses owners are facing obstacles with the bureaucracy in Ministries and state authorities. They also complain about different problems that delay their work and demand more resources. One of the most annoying and difficult obstacles are the limited number of employees for work, as set by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. “I wonder how the Ministry issued such a regulation? They definitely have no idea about the nature of our work and needs. They only allowed me to have five workers and I need at least seven to finish my work on time, especially after my business has grown and I receive more cars daily,” Salah, a 29-year old partner of a car wash station in Shuweikh, told the Kuwait times. The Ministry has also set other conditions for employing staff. “To limit expats coming to Kuwait, the Ministry is forcing us to hire those employees already working in the local market, unless they are university graduates. DRIVE USB 3.0 USB 2.0 COMPATIBLE NO POWER Now, all the workers know this information so they have demanded increases in their salaries. So, if before they were receiving KD 80, they are now getting 120, which became the standard in our business. And if I need to bring in other workers, I have to attract them with even higher salaries, which becomes expensive for my business. Besides, there is no office in Kuwait to search in providing workers for me,” he pointed out. “With respect to all nationalities, you know that the qualification and level of the Bengali or Indian worker is not on the level of the Filipino. And for KD 150 I can bring a professional technician from the Philippines, which most suits my needs and business, as I’m providing a high standard of services,” explained Salah. According to Salah, there is no equity in applying rules. “The small businesses owners are oppressed, since they don’t have wasta. The law is not applied to the big companies, who can bring any number of employees they need. Also, the number of employees was set randomly by the Ministry. For instance, the car wash on my right side has 10 employees while the one on my left side has a limit of STOR.E BASICS SUPER SPEED STORAGE MADE SIMPLE �� BASICS ALU CANVIO PARTNER EDITION STEEL 500GB 1TB �� 2 LOCAL five, although we all are in the same business field,” he added. “There are even many more problems with other authorities and we are facing bureaucracy in paper work at the municipality, the Ministry of Commerce, the Public Authority for Industry, Civil Information and many other offices. If I could go back, I would not choose to operate this business,” concluded Salah. Mohammed Al-Naki is a Kuwaiti businessman who is also suffering from the problems of hiring manpower. He decided to find a way to benefit from solar and wind energy as a hobby. He fixed wind energy fans at his house in Salwa, and this attracted people who are passing from the Mesila bridge on Fahaheel Road. The shortage of manpower is the biggest obstacle facing Al-Naqi’s business. “I suffer from the public bureaucracy and some unfair rules. I understand that the government has issued strict rules for importing manpower, as there are people trading with laborers and human trafficking. On the other hand it is unjustified as I need to bring in technicians from outside and they don’t allow me to do so,” he added. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012 Small businesses face host of problems Bureaucracy tops the list Man held for armed robbery attempt KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti drug trader pictured after his arrest. By Hanan Al Saadoun KUWAIT: The operations department and patrolling officers at Ahmadi governorate set up check points and closed areas in the governorate as they attempted to apprehend a suspect involved in a failed armed robbery. Governorate security said that suspect was arrested after he tried to flee from a checkpoint. Officials further said the suspect has been previously arrested for stealing, and after searching his car police found a gun with six bullets. Other items found by police included a gun bag with two bullets inside it, two screwdrivers used for breaking into and stealing cars, three gold rings, 11 mobiles, clothes, perfumes, various electronic equipment, as well as several knives. The witness who reported the theft was later able to identify the suspect, who was sent to concerned authorities along with the materials found with him. Ahmadi security officials stressed that their campaign shall continue until they have arrested all outlaws. Drug trader Drugs enforcement officers arrested a Kuwaiti man on charges of having 1.250 kilograms of hashish, along with other drugs. Earlier information was received about the suspect’s selling drugs as KUWAIT: The items confiscated from the armed robber yesterday. well as using them, and based on this information, permission was received to arrest the suspect in his apartment. Officials said they found hashish in different sizes and some pills, as well as a small quantity of “Shabu” drugs and paraphernalia for using drugs. The Kuwaiti man confessed to possessing the drugs for his own use and for selling. He was sent, along with the confiscated drugs, to the concerned authorities. By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: A cleaning company’s employee, who was working at a hospital and had not been properly vaccinated by her employer, was terminated after the company’s malpractice was revealed to the Ministry of Health. The cleaning company, which has been blacklisted as an employer by the Philippine government, provides workers to hospitals, and fired Filipina Lizel Masucol Bores, who accidentally pricked her finger with a used needle while performing her duties at a private hospital in Kuwait. Following the incident, Lizel was forced to leave Kuwait on Friday evening after what she termed as an “illegal termination,” and expressing her apprehension for her personal health. The company, which had initially given an appointment to this reporter, later refused to give a statement at their headquarters in Subhan yesterday. In a written response submitted to the Embassy of the Philippines, the company said that the employee had been dismissed for violating company rules. However, before her departure, Lizel visited the Philippine Embassy and signed an affidavit stating her grievances against her employer and the circumstances surrounding her wrongful termination. Workers and cleaners operating in hospitals are required by the Ministry of Health to be vaccinated against any form of disease, as they are dealing with sick patients every day. Doctors, nurses, administrative staff and other workers, including porters and cleaners are also required to be completely vaccinated for fighting Hepatitis, TB, and HIV. They are also given several shots of anti-flu vaccines, sources from the Ministry of Health told Kuwait Times. “I told the doctor at the Mubarak Hospital that I had only been vaccinated with two Hepatitis shots. The doctor then told me that I should have been given a complete set of vaccinations, which are mandatory for hospital workers,” Lizel told The Kuwait Times. This, she says, was the primary reason for her termina- KUWAIT: A number of high school teachers staged a sit in outside the Ministry of Education’s building yesterday, in protest against a decision to separate teachers from their children in the same school. The teachers complained that the decision affected them and their children negatively, and also questioned their integrity. Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education Mohammad Al-Kandari released a statement reasserting that the decision is final. — Photo by Fouad Al-Shaik INFO, planning secretariat general join WEF sponsors KUWAIT: The Ministry of Information and the Supreme Planning Councilís Secretariat General have joined the sponsors of the GCC Women Economic Forum (WEF), which will be held today and is entitled, ‘GCC Women and Investment Opportunities.’ The event has been organized under the aegis of Sheikhah Ayeda Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah. The General Manager of the Leaders Group and the Head of the Organizing Committee, Nabila Al-Anjeri thanked the Minister of Information Sheikh Abdullah Mohammed Abdullah Al- Mubarak Al-Sabah, his Undersecretary Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud and the Supreme Planning Council represented by Minister of State for Planning and Development Dr. Rola Dashti. ‘Those two sponsors are a symbol of the government’s support for the forum, which will establish Kuwait’s reputation as a leading GCC country in PR, women rights and as far as GCC’s investment and economic activities are concerned,’ she said. Al-Anjeri also thanked the other sponsors that included the INTREPRENEUR magazine, GOOD HEALTH magazine, published by Sheikh Mohammed Filipina worker wrongfully terminated tion. “My employer immediately terminated my contract. I will leave Kuwait with a heavy heart because I still haven’t repaid the loan I took for paying the placement fee to a recruitment company in Philippines,” she said, before boarding the plane to the Philippines on Friday. Another employee working in the same company confirmed to this reporter that all his co-workers including himself were yet to be fully vaccinated. Lizel arrived in Kuwait on November 3, 2011. She paid KD350 as a placement fee that enabled her to get a job in Kuwait. She hasn’t repaid the loan yet. “I got pricked on August 23. I went to the hospital on August 26. Hepatitis and HIV tests will be conducted after three months, which will be on November 26, since the incubation period for these diseases is up to three months,” Lizel stated. She argued that the company had fired her to avoid taking any responsibility for the incident. She said, “They terminated my contract immediately.” However, Lizel’s reunion with her family back home only after 10 months will not be a happy affair. “I don’t want to go home now, because I need to repay the loan first. Besides, what if I actually contracted a disease from the used needle? I was scheduled to be back at the hospital for Hepatitis and HIV testing, but how can I undergo those checks when they have already terminated my contract,” Lizel told the Kuwait Times. Besides illegal dismissal from work, Lizel cited other instances of the company violating its contracts. “We were made to work 16 hours a day without payment of overtime and our accommodation was really poor. We had signed contracts to work for KD120 a month but we were actually only paid KD80. We are also asked by our supervisors to work 16 hours, which amounts to an additional eight hours, which remain unpaid; sometimes we received only KD2.6 as fee for the extra eight-hour duty,” she said. The Philippine Labor Attache in Kuwait David Des Dicang, confirmed Lizel’s complaints and Nabila Al-Anjeri Sheikhah Entisar Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah, the UNIDO, CBK, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Kuwait Financial Center, the Gatehouse Bank, KPC, KSPDC and KAC. Various GCC and foreign delegations participating in the forum have already started arriving for the inauguration slated for 9:00 a.m. this morning at the Al- Thuraya Hall in Kuwait’s J.W. Marriott Hotel. Al-Anjeri also thanked all GCC and Kuwaiti media sponsors for the forum, including the Al-Watan, the Al-Qabas, the Annahar and the Al-Anbaa newspapers. promised to assist her further from Kuwait. “We already wrote a letter to her company and have informed them about Lizel’s complaints. According to her she was illegally terminated because she reported the vaccination matter to the Ministry of Health. The company responded and informed us that Lizel was terminated because of her many employment violations, which they have included in the response. Lizel has denied these violations,” Dicang said. He added that the company had already been suspended since January 1, 2012. “We at POLO have written a letter to the POEA, asking them to investigate the company and the recruitment agency, because we have received repeated complaints from workers. We receive complaints from Filipinos employed with this company almost every month,” he said. They were already suspended from our list of legitimate companies and they cannot be allowed to employ Filipino workers at all. The company owner had told us that they need Filipino workers and that they could lose their contracts if they were unable to provide additional workers. We told them, the company should only follow what is stated in the contracts. We’ve got many complaints from the workers, who also pointed out that many of the provisions in the new contacts are not implemented.” Dicang said, elaborating that, for example, the monthly salary should be above KD 120, but the workers were only getting paid KD80. They should work ideally be working only eight hours, but were made to work for 16 hours without overtime pay,” he said. “The company has refuted these complaints,” he said and questioned their stance by saying, “If these complaints are untrue, why are so many people complaining? The recruitment agency from the Philippines has also lost our confidence and if they violate rules again, they will risk suspension too. Also, if they have charged more money than required, we will ask them to refund that money,” Dicang noted.
Warba Bank kicks off tour of malls, universities KUWAIT: Warba Bank, the most recently opened Islamic bank in Kuwait, yesterday launched a nationwide tour of malls and universities in Kuwait. From Sept 24 to 29, a Warba Bank booth will be located at the 360 Mall, offering people an opportunity to learn more about the bank’s products and services. The booth will then move onto four other locations in Kuwait - The Avenues, Marina Mall, Kuwait University and Al Kout Mall before finishing in early January 2013. Current and potential customers visiting the booths can learn more about the bank’s services, including its recently-launched ‘La T7aty’ campaign for salary accounts, which offers new customers instant valuable gifts, in addition to one or two chances to win a brand new Mini Cooper. The booth also offers information on Warba Bank’s ‘Murabaha’ service, which meets the financing needs of customers with entire flexibility via basic monthly installments. The new Sharia compliant service allows customers to purchase goods and pay in easy installments within a period that starts from six months up to 15 years. The service includes house finance, construction and renovation, as well as consumer products such as boats and marine equipment, furniture, electronic appliances and cars, as well as other goods, and is available with competitive profit rates. Customers can also learn more about Warba Bank’s nine banking cards, including the standard debit card, Lamar Card for ladies, Shabab Warba Card, Safwa Card for the affluent, and Tala Card for children, as well as its three types of credit cards: Classic, Gold and Platinum. Furthermore, the booth offers information on the bank’s exclusive ‘My Box’ service from Posta Plus, which provides two local delivery addresses in the US and UK for all online purchases and regular mails. Commenting on the booths, Adnan Salman Al Salem, Chief Retail Banking Officer of Warba Bank, said, “Warba Bank is committed to get closer to its customers and providing them with the highest levels of service and delivery. This tour of malls and universities is in line with our expansion strategy and will help us to communicate with the largest number of customers possible.” Customers can learn more about Warba Bank’s multiple services by visiting its branches, booths, or by calling 182-5555. Warba Bank, an Islamic bank established by virtue of Amiri Decree, was officially registered in the Central Bank of Kuwait’s list of Islamic banks on April 5, 2010. The State of Kuwait, represented by Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), owns 24% shares of the bank while the remaining 76% of shares, fully subscribed by the government, have been equally allocated to all Kuwaiti nationals. Warba Bank offers a range of customized Sharia-compliant services and solutions through its three divisions of Retail, Investment and Corporate Banking. Branching out in four strategic locations, Warba Bank has over 150 employees. By Sajeev K Peter KUWAIT: The Indian Embassy, Kuwait has officially sought the intervention of the Kuwait authorities in order to ensure the welfare and safety of more than 1,000 Indian domestic workers who were arrested in a flash police raid on Sept 19 in Kuwait, said Vidhu P Nair, Charge de’ Affaires here yesterday. “We hope that all those arrested Indian workers with valid residency will be released soon,” he said, addressing a press conference at the embassy while briefing journalists on the action the Indian Embassy has taken following the arrest. According to local media reports, around 2,136 people were rounded up during the raid mostly in Bneid Al-Gar area on Sept 19, of whom majority are Indian nationals, especially from Rajasthan. The arrest of a large number of Indians has caused concern among the members of the Indian community, especially people from the state of Rajasthan. Though arrested included other nationalities also, some press reports suggested that the raid specifically targeted the Indians who form the largest expatriate community in Kuwait. They also reported that the arrest highlighted the flaws in the sponsor system being followed in Kuwait. Nair however declined to comment on the report, saying that the arrested 3 LOCAL workers might have been working in the private sector while holding domestic residencies. “The Kuwaiti authorities did not provide us with any information before or after the raid. But our consular officers visited the deportation and detention centers and personally verified that the workers detained are treated well.” “There are around 650 workers being detained in these centers. They are safe and there are no complaints or any cases of harassment. Also no worker has been deported so far,” Nair said. He said it is premature to provide any number at the moment as the workers are held in 40 police stations in addition to the deportation and detention centers. He informed that he will hold talks TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012 Arrested workers ‘safe, secure’: Indian embassy Laborers with ‘valid residency’ being released KUWAIT: Around a 1000 persons, who were among the 2,136 arrested in Bneid Al-Gar last week during a crackdown against immigration law violators have been released from custody after the police found that they were living legally in Kuwait and had committed no violations, a local daily reported yesterday. The release of these innocent expats has given rise to speculations that the operation planned by the Ministry of Interior was in fact a random procedure, which lacked organization and advance planning. Al-Qabas’ reporters met with several Bnaid Al-Gar residents, who indicated that the police had set them free after their sponsors provided documents proving their legal status, and complained against the arrests, which were carried out without first properly checking the victims’ identification. KUWAIT: Indian Embassy Charge de’ Affaires Vidhu P Nair (right), flanked by First Secretary (Information) Vinodkumar, addresses a press conference at the Indian Embassy yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat Laal Sotar, an Indian national in his forties, said that he was arrested despite having a valid residency, because the police never bothered to check his status properly. He was released a day later, after his Kuwaiti sponsor personally arrived at the police station and provided a copy of his residency documents. Another person identified in police reports as ‘Dali’ explained that he was detained and kept in an overcrowded cell, which only had one bathroom, before he was freed by his sponsor. He added that many workers with legitimate documents were still in custody and waiting for their sponsors to arrive, even though they hadn’t committed any criminal offence. Meanwhile, Ramin, an Indian national said that he had to spend 48 hours in jail without being told the reason behind his arrest. He added that he was released only with the Interior Minister on the matter soon. “The embassy is also in close contact with the External Affairs Ministry back in India and the Rajasthan state government,” he informed. Giving a detailed description on the action the embassy has taken, he said the consular officials visited Qadsiya, Rumaithiya and Daiya police stations on Sept 20 and met with 65 workers detained there. The officials collected available data about the detainees such as their names, sponsor names, telephone numbers, passport numbers etc. Around 100 workers were released from these stations, he informed. Similarly, they visited Salwa, Bayan, and Jabriya police stations yesterday. According to him, all the 17 workers from Jabriya police station, 16 out of 17 from Salwa police station and 16 from Bayan police station were released. Similarly, 16 workers from Rumaithiya police station, 10 from Khaitan and 61 from Daiya were also released. The Kuwaiti authorities were also calling in sponsors and asking them to take the workers back. Nair said that the embassy is evolving a new attestation mechanism for screening newly-recruited domestic laborers from India. “However, the process will take a long way which will help eliminate the maltreatment of domestic workers,” he explained. Scores of Bneid Al-Gar workers detained without ID checks after his sponsor came to the police station bearing his identification papers. “I woke up in panic following a police raid in my building,” Ramin told Al-Qabas, adding that the police took him into custody without checking any of his IDs. Similar stories of arrests being made without making proper checks were narrated by several other Bneid Al- Gar residents, who considered themselves lucky for being released before the weekend. “Officers refused to release my brother, despite our providing documents that established his newly issued residency, and we were told to come back on Sunday,” Komar, a Bnaid Al-Gar resident stated in the newspaper report. Even though, his brother’s sponsor had also rushed to the police station after learning of his arrest, it was too late and his release could not be secured before the weekend.
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