Kuwait MP urges nod to SMEs bill

KUWAIT CITY: The MPs, who voted against the bill on supporting the owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), are working against the interests of citizens, says Rapporteur of parliamentary Health, Social and Labor Affairs Committee MP Sa’adoun Hammad.

He disclosed these MPs have justified their vote against the bill by claiming that it is aimed at supporting big companies and businesspersons even if the phrase pertaining to big companies and businessmen was deleted prior to voting on the bill.

“A rumor that the bill stipulates payment of loans obtained by expatriates, who left Kuwait recently, has gone viral on fake social media accounts administered by someone from outside Kuwait. This rumor is baseless,” Hammad asserted. He pointed out it is illogical that the State pays the expatriates’ loans while it refuses to waive the citizens’ loans.

He said the bill stipulates that the government will guarantee 80 percent of the loans and the latter intends to allocate KD 3 billion for this purpose. He then appealed to his colleagues to show their support for citizens by voting in favor of the bill in its second reading in the session slated for Oct 20, 2020.

Meanwhile, MP Osama Al -Shaheen has submitted a proposal for the government to issue licenses and rent contracts renewable every year to citizens who obtained chalets and other properties on Failaka Island.

The lawmaker disclosed the government has stopped the renewal of licenses and rent contracts since the 1990s because the State needed the properties; but it has yet to utilize any of the buildings and plots on the island.

In another development, MPs Adel Al-Damkhi, Osama Al-Shaheen and Essa Al-Kandari have forwarded a proposal to Financial and Economic Affairs Committee Chairperson MP Safa Al-Hashem for the committee to add some amendments to the bill on supporting SMEs affected by coronavirus.

They asked the committee to make sure that the bill is in line with the Islamic Sharia, cancel the specified maximum amount – KD 3 billion and change it to ‘unlimited’ amount. They also stressed the need to limit the beneficiaries of the bill to owners of SMEs