KUWAIT CITY, July 19, (KUNA): Kuwaiti Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Dr Fadhel Safar Ali Safar said Sunday his ministry would link the newly-introduced electronic fingerprint system to the salaries of its personnel. Speaking to reporters after attending inauguration ceremony of the system at Al-Jahra Municipality, the minister said the system aims to verify the attendance and leave of personnel and link that to their pay. “All of Al-Jahra municipal officials agreed to re-organize the local archive in a way that keeps up with the latest achievements of the information technology,” Safar pointed out. In introducing the system, the ministry started with Al-Jahra Governorate which proved to be more entitled to acquire this technology than other governorates.

“The system will be adopted by the other governorates successively according to a specific time schedule,” the minister noted. “Kuwait Municipality is developing contracts on introducing a personal information digest system to all its branches countrywide in the near future,” he disclosed. “Efforts are underway to assess the performance of municipal departments of all governorates in the form of contest the results of which will be announced in the holy month of Ramadan (late August), he went on to say. “Under a decree by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Kuwait Municipality started introducing the electronic fingerprint system,” he noted, voicing hope that the system would cut short the daily routine and improve the performance of municipal personnel. “The decision to link the attendance system to salaries aims to do justice to hard-working employees and encourage them realize the future targets of their departments,” Safar made clear.

Meanwhile, chief of the supervision team of the electronic fingerprint system Tareq Al-Medeini said: “This project includes three stages the first of which envisages introducing the system to Al-Jahra and Al-Ahmadi governorates and the imported foodstuff department.” “A total of 53 fingerprint scanners have been installed in this stage,” Al-Medeini revealed. The second stage envisages installing 37 scanners at the municipal divisions of Al-Farwaniya and Mubarak Al-Kabir governorates, then 58 scanners at the Capital and Hawally governorates in the third stage, he added. Safar, accompanied by municipal leaders, paid an inspection tour of the municipal divisions and centers as well as the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) in Al-Jahra. “The minister inspected a local cemetery and a horsemanship center and was briefed on the maintenance and construction works there,” chief of staff of the minister’s office Ayman Al-Sarhan said. “He also toured Al-Salibiya Area, Kabad center and camel riding center, and instructed the local municipal officials to finalize the rehabilitation process of their departments,” Al-Sarhad added.