Another hit on expats?

Thanks for putting this on here.

That is so bad.

not "rumors" Riba, proposals. that is worse than a rumor, a rumor is baseless, whereas here this indicates that some genius thinks its a good idea to "tax" the expats, therefore the idea of Kuwait income being tax-free crumbles.

Bahrain has already done it, as a result of the oil slump they'll start charging expats more for meat, yes seriously meat, as of Sept. (here) well, removing subsidies but only for expats, so its still the same.

dont forget there was also an idea to remove subsidies on fuel from expats too in Kuwait...

dark times ahead.

How about a 'real' transit system ... elevated tram ... service from Jahra to the city flanking the 80 ... city to fahaheel flanking the 30 ... with maybe a spur down the 6th ring, and or mall spurs ... taxi's could still service everything between

will never happen (takes investment) because it's takes money out of a current 'someones' pocket and put's it in a theoretical someone's pocket ... lol

but would benefit the whole 

This is really bad news for me as I am planning to get a driver's licence in Kuwait. 500 KD is a lot of money!

believe it or not enigmausly that is exactly what was said in Saudi! costs of driving would not be increased until a feasible alternative is provided.

now, not drawing a comparison here, but in Germany, the cost of the license is at minimum EUR 1,400 (around KD 490), but that is GERMANY! get Kuwait at least up to par.

you cant copy their fees without first providing their same services. what alternatives do we have here? Rickety old poison spewing overcrowded buses?

Hi everyone, if this proposal goes through then everyone gets hit not only expats as kuwaities are not exempt from the trend of gradually increasing  the cost of services given and decreasing the subsidies Provided.

In fact there is a current social media campaign to boycott the fish market (started last week ) due to the rediculosly overpriced food items which everyone is predicting would lead to further campaigns as to show the local reject of this uncontrolled inflation.

Good luck for all

Well, welcome to the phenomenon of inflation. Maybe it is time to diversify the economy? Or maybe that time has long gone?

Well I don't have a background in economics to answer that but I think all of the GCC countries are facing this grim reality of running out of their only source of income in the upcoming future which left many locals thinking of planning for life abroad.
Many of the wealthy are buying properties outside the country  and moving their business and assets outside. As for the rest who don't own much (present company included) maybe we can move to your country for jobs  and we would up start a blog like this one day 

Hi Ama

I thought this was only going to be for expats - surely they wont charge citizens this? We were discussing and came to the conclusion it was to clear congestion on the roads.

Hi
Most Kuwaiti families have a driver ( my family used to have one) or business owners who hire drivers have to pay the required fees requested by the government so any additional fees suggested  would require the Kuwaiti sponsors to pay on behalf of their employees.

So I think the upcoming trend of increased payment on services would touch everyone. This might not be final yet but the country is facing a budget deficit and is looking to increase its revenue not a traffic issue per se.

Good luck for all

see i get the whole "credit crunch" thing and wanting to increase revenue, but with all due respect, someone kindly enlighten me as to how on the one hand you have dwindling oil revenues, whilst on the other you read titles in the news such as "Kuwait set to approve $1bn public sector pay rises" (link)

the first paragraph reads:
Nearly half of Kuwait's public sector employees are set to receive double-figure salary increases worth a total $1.15 billion, under a government proposal.

by Public Sector employees, of course they mean citizens only.

i get that this is also a "proposal". you're basically taking from Tom, Dick &Harry to give toTalal, Jassim & Mishary.

Hi

In fact this is suggested as the article states to even out the salaries in the public sector as the salaries eat up a huge portion of the government budget.

Meaning restructure the salaries given to the government employees as not to pay someone more than the other and establish a "faire system" of grading like in the private sector.

Will have to cut out out the incentives from the well paid jobs(I.e doctors, engineers, judges ) to pay the basic salaries to the newly recurited staff so not add up to the salaries budget.

This is a bill  suggested by the government and discussed now in the parliament and called البديل الاستيراتيجي للرواتب which would mean that a public employee  have to earn a higher education degree and work enough years to be promoted and be paid higher.
Doctors and judges already protested to this and other sectors as well as it is not a popular idea as you can imagine but I hope they work out a system that is satisfactory for all.

Good luck

Ama2015 wrote:

This is a bill  suggested by the government and discussed now in the parliament and called البديل الاستيراتيجي للرواتب which would mean that a public employee  have to earn a higher education degree and work enough years to be promoted and be paid higher.

And this right here is a fundamental problem in Kuwait. Your promotion should be related to your results and efficiency, not your degree or time spent "working", if you get my drift.

hence the crackdown on holders of certain degrees from certain universities that were labelled as "fake" or "bought not earned".

@legacy and @ribosom

You are both absolutely right but it will take some time to creat this modern work system after years of dependency on the government 

dear Ama, we're not pointing fingers at you you seem like a lovely person, thank you for all your efforts on the forum, do not think its going unnoticed

Dear legacy

I know I am not being pointed at and I do enjoy all of your discussions as I think it is helpful to hear other points of view and build bridges between residents and locals.

I do hope you share your future views with me to help in shedding the light and be the devil's advocate 

i dont mind that role

Dear Riba, I sense this is coming soon - although as it affects all expats and not just a few, i think it will take slightly more time - the increased residency fees hits non-western expats the most.

only time will tell.

Nice discussion, liked it ..

I am amazed at the solutions provided by ministers to reduce congestions on the kuwait roads. i agree there is a hell lot of traffic ... but in my opinion, it is due to weak city planning and crumblingly weak public transportation system.

I had my driving license made withing 4 months of entering Kuwait, yet I did not buy a car for 3 years due to traffic frustration I used to notice. I would take the bus and go off to sleep for good 45 minutes for a distance from hawalli to kuwait airways building in kuwait city. but the buses got on to my nerves ..

bad drivers :  they would not stop the bus inspite of signalling, waving hands at them from the bus stop .. i would helplessly stare them speed by .. wait in the hot scorching sun .. it is frustrating and humiliating...they drive recklessly, talk on the mobile phone .. heck type a text message at those speeds, issue tickets and follow up with passengers for onbaording and offboarding .. my eyes are glued on the road more than that of the driver !


buses :  they are messy, smelly, torn seats, dirt flying around, leaky air conditioning, broken seats .. and some wonderful buses (KPTC) have irritatingly less legspace .. so much that knees are hurting with "superb driving" of the adventurous driver. also .. please do not allow those sealed window a/c buses (KGL) .. they are stinkgly suffocating ...

teasing :  some kids ..mostly arabs, create nuisance on the bus, teasing passengers and specially women passengers. it is disgusting to see such lack of manners and ungentlemenly behavior.

limited connectivity :  bus routes are ancient, they have hardly added new routes and connectivity points since ages. kuwait has become populated in far off areas, one has to walk on a average minimum of 500 metres to a bus stop in this rude desert landscape and top it up with speeding non stopping buses.

crumbling? try non-existent

Kuwait airways building? were you in Albazie? I was ^^ 6th floor

bottom line - kuwait needs a metro or a skytrain, anything else is a waste.