A crisis emerged when the State Department received a complaint from the United States Embassy in the country stating that there is some confusion in renewing work permits for workers at American bases in the country, Al Qabas reported.
Informed sources said that operating companies also complained to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they are not granted the right to renew their work permits on government contracts belonging to the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense, according to the documentation agreed in advance with the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), the US Army and the Kuwaiti Army Chief of Staff.
The sources noted that PAM will hold a meeting this week with representatives of the Kuwaiti Army Chief of Staff and the US Army, after confusion arose over the renewal of non-Kuwaiti and American employment contracts registered on US contracts of the US Army.
Great troubles
In the context, the sources mentioned that the troubles of these workers registered on the US military contracts started since last August and until now the permits have not been renewed, although the transactions were proceeding normally before that.
It stated that PAM requested the transfer of workers from government contract files to the main file of the operating company, although the work is ongoing and has not stopped, which costs companies operating in logistics services KD410 per year, while the number of workers involved in the problem is more than 9000.
The sources stated that a legal memorandum was also submitted to the Minister of Economic Development regarding the confusion over the US army contracts, especially since the integrity of the 12 companies operating in the service of the US Army was already verified.
According to sources, there has been a significant impact to many projects in the bases, as the companies are unable to fully provide the necessary services, due to the refusal to renew work permits or to issue work permits to Expats or American workers in these companies.
In addition, the spokesperson for the US Embassy in Kuwait revealed to Al Qabas daily that there is continuous follow-up with government agencies in Kuwait to ensure the progress of the existing projects.
He added, “The US embassy continues to communicate with relevant ministries and government agencies to ensure the continuity of existing projects in Kuwait, according to deadlines, and to ensure the protection of American contractors who work on these projects in accordance with Kuwaiti laws and regulations.
