The Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) ended the services of 135 of the 398 expatriates under their employ to implement the government’s replacement policy of filling the vacant posts with Kuwaitis, reports Al Jarida. Exceptions are granted for expat employees whose mothers are Kuwaitis and stateless staff as well as service workers such as drivers, according to the report.
Al-Jarida said, quoting sources, that the first batch of job terminations included 33 percent of the total expatriate population at PAHW, including senior engineers and legal advisors.
The contracts of expat employee ended on Tuesday after a two-month notice period upon directives from Minister of State for Housing Affairs and Minister of Public Works, Rana Al Faris following a three-phase replacement plan. Notices for terminations for the second phase of the replacement policy begins early November, and early April 2021 will be the third and last phase.
There have been increasing calls in Kuwait over recent months to remedy the population imbalance in the country, prompting several government bodies to outline plans to minimise numbers of their expatriate employees and provide jobs to Kuwaiti nationals.
Several Kuwaiti public figures have demanded curtailing numbers of migrant workers, mainly the unskilled labour, in the country, accusing them of straining the country’s health facilities and increasing the COVID-19 threat.
Foreigners account for nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s 4.8 million population.
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