Kuwait donates USD 20 mln for Syrian people

Kuwait government donated Sunday USD 20 million for the Syrian people to help alleviate their suffering especially with the fall of winter. The donation decision came after Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah briefed cabinet members over repeated appeals by UN organizations to help the Syrian people. The government will channel USD five million through Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS), USD five million via the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and USD 10 for the specialized international organizations to help the needy Syrian people in and outside their country. Information Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah, in a statement after the cabinet meeting, chaired by His highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, said the executives took note of a letter from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to His Highness the Amir which praised the "serious" steps by the State of Kuwait and Iraq to overcome obstacles hampering bilateral cooperation. The cabinet, meanwhile, also approved the executive regulations of Law No. I of 2012 over the establishment of an investment fund to support Kuwaiti students and sons of Kuwaiti mothers who pay their own tuition fees, noted Sheikh Mohammad. The ministers discussed a draft law to amending some of the housing care law, which would give the private sector a larger role to build housing units on state-owned lots with the ultimate aim of addressing housing care problems. They, on the other hand, approved a draft law to establish shareholding companies with a mandate of building power stations and water desalination stations in Kuwait in order to meet growing electricity and water demands. The draft laws were referred to His Highness the Amir. The cabinet members took note of a letter to His Highness the Amir from former French President Jacques Chirac regarding the humanitarian programs of the Chirac Foundation in the domains of health, water and cultural diversity.