(MENAFN- Arab Times) KUWAIT CITY March 11: The Parliament in its regular session Wednesday unanimously approved the report of the Women and Family Affairs Committee on the Child Protection Bill in its first reading. Article One defines the child as every male and female below 18 years old while the explanatory note states the bill protects the child in all aspects health social educational cultural psychological and criminal. The bill stipulates that the family is the first foundation in the society for the growth of children who should be given special care for them to be able to fully assume responsibilities as they grow up in a family environment full of attention care comfort and training.
First chapter of the bill specifies primaries general rules definition of the child age groups public rights and duties of the child. The second chapter talks about health care for the child terms of practicing obstetrics how to register births systems of child vaccination diet and other issues; while the third chapter is about the nursery homes.
The fourth chapter stipulates a child''s right to education fifth chapter on child labor and working mothers sixth chapter on the care of children with disabilities and the need to protect their rights without prejudice. The seventh chapter touches on culture of children and the need to raise them well eighth chapter on penal protection of the child as special legislation singled out in this chapter to protect the child from the dangers of traffic and other risks while article nine stipulates penalties on anyone proven to have abused children.
In another development the Parliament approved the Public Utilities Committee''s report on Veterinary Profession Bill for GCC states in its first and second readings. The bill has been referred to the government for approval and implementation.
Meanwhile the Parliament endorsed the Public Prosecution''s request to lift the immunity of MPs Abdul-Hameed Dashti Nabil Al-Fadel and Saadoun Hammad Al- Otaibi on press misdemeanor cases. The Parliament also discussed reasons behind the government''s delayed issuance of executive bylaws for many important bills approved a long time ago.
During the debate MPs accused the government of not cooperating with the Parliament by not issuing bylaws for many important bills like the privatization of Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) sports institutions communication information technology consumer protection food security and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) system among others.
They consider this a manifestation of the inability of some ministers to manage the affairs of their respective ministries. Some lawmakers have stressed the need to subject these ministries to political grilling. After the discussion the MPs submitted the following recommendations:
The government should provide the Parliament with a timetable specifying the time it needs to issue the executive bylaws and the date of implementing these bylaws.
Authorize the Priorities Committee to follow-up the government''s commitment to work according to the timetable.
The Priorities Committee must submit a report every three months on the government''s commitment to implement the laws and executive bylaws.
Commenting on the issue MP Yousef Al-Zalzalah pointed out the government has an ''army'' of consultants and advisors at its disposal yet it has delayed the issuance of executive bylaws for important laws like the privatization of KAC and sports clubs.
He argued it is irrational for the government to ask the Parliament to quickly pass development-related laws under such circumstances. He added ''The Parliament is like a Ferrari while the government is a 66 Volkswagen.'' MPAbdullah Al-Tamimi asserted that it is shameful for the Parliament to ask about the executive bylaws. He asserted ''We should grill ministers who are negligent.'' He said the most important ratified law awaiting issuance of executive bylaws is the Consumer Protection Law considering the continuous hike in prices.
Al-Tamimi believes the minister of commerce and industry is to blame as he failed to attend numerous sessions due to an alleged leg injury yet he attended the graduation ceremony at the Police Academy recently. Members of the Assembly share the same feeling and opinion regarding the government''s delay in issuing executive bylaws as they asked the same question: ''Until when are we going to wait?'' Other MPs went as far as threatening the government with interpellations like MP Abdulhameed Dashti who asserted that it is now time to grill negligent and irresponsible ministers in addition to rectifying parliamentary tools of supervision.
Agreeing with Dashti MP Adnan Abdulsamad pointed out that if the government is negligent in terms of the issuance of executive bylaws ''what about the numerous parliamentary recommendations?'' He claimed some laws approved in the 1990s have yet to be implemented.
The MP asserted this Assembly does not condone excessive interpellations but some ministers are leaving no room for rationalities. ''For this reason we must not end this session until we reach a decision to obligate the government to accomplish this task'' they said.
Speaking on behalf of the government State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah explained that although he was supposed to attend to another important business today HH the Prime Minister insisted for him to attend the session in order to present some figures regarding the ratified laws. The minister said that according to the Assembly''s records the total number of ratified laws is 55 11 of which are still awaiting executive bylaws or 20 percent of the legislative output.
This means the government has accomplished 80 percent of the total number noting that four of the laws are new and only 60 days have passed since their passage. On the other hand the minister of health pointed out the Health Insurance Law for the elderly has been in effect since February but the health insurance for children and the disabled are currently in the implementation phase. ''Since the minister of health has clarified two laws the government''s failure is around 11 percent'' noted Sheikh Mohammed. However the MPs were not convinced by the figures presented by the minister indicating these figures do not correspond with reality. This has prompted the Assembly to approve the three recommendations mentioned above.
Furthermore Minister of Oil and State Minister for National Assemby Affairs Dr Ali Al-Omair assured the legislature that the government is keen on cooperating with it and has no objection to the submitted recommendations. Also the Parliament approved the request of MPs to assign Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Sabeh to interrogate Head of Kuwait Transparency Society (KTS) Salah Al-Gazali on his statements and tweets which are deemed offensive to the reputation of Kuwait. The Parliament asked the minister to submit her report in this regard within three months.
By: Abubakar A. Ibrahim and Ahmed Al-Naqeeb Arab Times Staff
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