KUWAIT: The
Public Authority for Manpower issued 62,191 work permits to bring in Egyptian
workers during 2018, contrary to the exaggerated numbers mentioned by local
media, the Central Statistical Bureau said yesterday. The department added that
23,883 permits were cancelled in 2018. The department said 577 Egyptian workers
were appointed in the public sector during 2018, most of whom in the medical,
educational and legal professions.

Meanwhile, the
bureau said that the total number of Egyptian workers in the government sector
reached 40,897 by the end of 2018, 26,545 of whom are male and 14,352 female,
while the total number of Egyptian workers in the private sector is 451,960.
The department said the Egyptian community in Kuwait dropped by 26,551 people
to reach a total of 643,977.

University tour

In other news,
Minister of Education Humoud Al-Azmi and Public Works Minister and State
Minister for Housing Affairs Jenan Bushehri toured Kuwait University's
Shadadiya campus yesterday to inspect the roads leading to the campus and check
the latest preparations for the six college buildings that were included in the
moving and operation plan for the 2019-2020 academic year. KU Rector Dr Hussein
Al-Ansari, Secretary General Dr Muthanna Al-Rifae and Director of the
Construction Program Dr Qutaiba Rezouqi were on hand. The tour included field
visits to the colleges of Literature, Education, Administrative Science, Life
Science, Engineering, Petroleum and Science, which will be moved according to
the approval of KU higher council.

In the meantime,
Head of the Education Faculty Department Dr Ibrahim Al-Humoud said care of
disabled university students is a responsibility for Kuwait University, as it is
not acceptable to seek the help of a secretary to help a disabled student, such
as writing for them if they are visually impaired or handicapped, as the
secretary is not specialized for such interventions. It is also not realistic
for the disabled student to be accompanied by their mother to meet their needs
- rather such services are among the requirements of quality education, which
commits the university to provide them free of charge.

Meanwhile, Humoud
said the KU administration has decided to move several colleges to Shadadiya,
but does not allow any faculty members to enter the campus except through
complicated procedures and accompanied by a worker to prevent photographing
roads and adjacent areas, as it has been noticed that the KU administration is
bragging about buildings only because the surroundings are not ready. He said
teaching faculty members have not received keys to their offices in Shadadiya
two weeks before the university starts.

Electronic sale

Separately,
Secretary General of Kuwait Pharmaceutical Society Ali Hadi asked the health
ministry to set rules to organize the electronic sale of drugs, food
supplements and cosmetics, in addition to mechanisms organizing means of
delivering medicines to users under certain conditions. Hadi said current laws
do not allow the sale of medicines except at licensed pharmacies, and sale
through websites without prescription is a violation of the pharmaceutical
profession and its regulatory laws. Hadi said offering and marketing medicine
online without permission by the health ministry is a flagrant violation of
health ministry decisions that regulate means of promotion and advertisement
about pharmaceuticals, which calls for punishments according to health ministry rules.

By Meshaal
Al-Enezi