Kuwait  - According to an official source from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the ministry will address the Ministry of Finance for increasing the annual budget allocations for supporting food and construction materials, reports Al-Anba daily.

He explained that the matter comes in line with the steady global rise in the prices of food commodities and construction materials in general. At the same time, the volume of spending on these types of support is expected to rise by the end of this year by more than 50 percent, against the background of the significant increase in the prices of goods and products, transportation, shipping and warehousing.

The source said, “Within the framework of the role played by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to secure the basic needs of food and construction materials, and after Minister of Commerce and Industry Fahad Al-Shariaan confirmed that the government bears the difference in prices of food supplies, the need has become urgent to increase the support budget so that the ministry can perform its role in providing goods and basic needs subsidized at the same previous prices without burdening the citizens.

The minister had affirmed that the citizens will not feel any increase in the prices of construction and subsidized supplies, as the government will bear the price differences resulting from the increase in the cost of shipping or others, in light of the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war. There is a strategic plan to ensure the fl ow of goods and food items and stabilize their prices”.

It is worth noting that the total value of the disbursed support for many food items provided by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to citizens through the ration card amounted to about KD 225 million during the year 2021. This includes support for the food group, which includes rice, vegetable oil, frozen chicken, tomato paste, sugar, powdered milk, flour and lentils, as well as construction materials such as cement, iron, bricks, airconditioning support, concrete, sanitary kits, electrical wires, ceramics and porcelain, and external cladding support for construction and restoration.

Meanwhile, the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) recently issued its statistics on the results of the inspection team from the National Center for Occupational Health and Safety tasked to ensure strict compliance with the resolution on banning work under the direct heat of the Sun during summer, reports Al-Anba daily.

According to the the report, the team visited 155 work sites from June 1-11 and issued a warning to 100 companies found to have violated the resolution, while the number of erring workers totaled 205. The team also received nine messages through WhatsApp and the number of companies that fulfilled the conditions at the time of return inspection reached 51, during which no violation was recorded. The authority then advised business owners to continue abiding by the resolution to avoid legal problems.

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