By A Saleh

KUWAIT: Chairman of Kuwait Fishermen Union Thaher Al-Suwayyan once again called for supporting local products and fish catches through resolving the problems fishermen are facing, so that local fish can provide food reserves in case foodstuff imports are stopped for any reason.

Suwayyan also hailed the decisions made by the civil aviation and the ports authorities banning fishing boats from neighboring countries because of coronavirus cases in Iran. Suwayyan called for stricter measures and scrutinizing health and origin certificates of all imported fish in order to prevent importing them from infected countries via third countries.

Kuwait Ports Authority had announced on Sunday suspending ships coming from Iran in Shuaiba, Doha and Shuwaikh ports, due to the spread of Coronavirus in the neighboring country. This is a precaution measure taken to prevent the virus from entering Kuwait, and is part of the country's plan to fight the virus, the authority's Director General Sheikh Youssef Abdullah Sabah Al-Nasser Al-Sabah said in a press statement.

Mass absence
Schools featured an increased level of mass absence of students in many public schools, where some schools had zero attendance, something that an education source described as a regular phenomenon before the national celebrations. The source added that school administrations will impose absence regulations on all students absent without due excuse.

In another educational concern, the Ministry of Education (MoE) suspended interviewing heads of departments being promoted to supervisors until further notice pending CSC's decision on approving the technical supervision structure.

In this regard, educational sources said Education Minister Saud Al-Harbi addressed the Civil Service Commission (CSC), urging the approval of the supervision organizational structure and job descriptions, which authorizes supervisors to visit schools, evaluate the performance of department heads and report back.

Amiri pardon
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) announced 1,390 central prison inmates will benefit from the Amiri pardon annually given on the occasion of the national anniversaries, including 839 who will have their time cut and 551 who will be exempted from fines and bails.

The ministry also said 151 of the pardoned inmates will be released tomorrow morning, gradually followed by the rest until the end of 2020. The ministry explained that the pardoned inmates include 13 expats suffering from dangerous infectious diseases and two others who had spent the longest time at the central prison - 29 years.

In addition, MoI explained that citizens and bedoons who had their times cut short will be allowed to travel until their time is over, but warned they will be returned to prison and have their amnesty cancelled if they commit the same crimes again. Finally, MoI pointed out that the first group of released expat inmates will leave for their home countries at noon tomorrow.

Arrest warrant
The public prosecutor yesterday ordered the arrest of a lawmaker's son for insulting a policeman, driving without having a license and escaping arrest. The same order also included detaining two of the lawmaker's secretaries for insulting a policeman, helping to release his detained juvenile son from a police patrol by force and helping him escape.

Fight at popular salon
A female Lebanese hairdresser working at a popular salon in Salmiya fought with a Syrian coworker and threw hot tea at her, causing her first degree burns. Security sources said both women were arrested pending further investigations.