KUWAIT: A local company hired by the Ministry of Health (MoH) for a medical project recently terminated 220 of its bedoon (stateless) staff members, justifying this by what it described as MoH's refusal to extend the company's contract, said informed sources. The sources added that the terminated stateless employees are the only providers for their families and that these families are currently going through hardships after the company gave them three months to look for other jobs.

Meanwhile, well-informed sources said that both the Public Authority for Manpower and the central apparatus for illegal residents' affairs are discussing a mechanism to employ bedoons in the private and cooperative sectors. The sources added that according to regulations on bedoons' employment, work permits are issued to bedoons for one renewable year effective from the date of the employer's application for the work permit by providing the needed documents including the contract, qualifications, certificate of experience and fee payment.

In other news, informed sources said that the Civil Service Commission (CSC) contacted Ahmadi educational zone requesting the suspension of a chemistry teacher who had entered Kuwait on a secretary's visa before he applied to MoE to work as a teacher. In another educational concern, the third batch of 12 new expat teachers arrived from Tunisia to cover shortages in some schools. Informed sources said the teachers were welcomed at Kuwait airport, where they were given a KD 200 loan each, in addition to KD 60 in rent allowance for male teachers, while female teachers were taken to the ministry's residence pending completing their visa procedures.

By A Saleh