KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Acting Minister of Interior Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah affirmed on Wednesday the importance of finding instant solutions for traffic congestions, especially during rush hours. The minister conducted a field visit to Sabah Al-Salem to discuss the reasons behind these traffic jams, the ministry's security media and public relations department said in a statement.

Sheikh Talal called for cooperation and coordination between the ministry of interior and all road-related authorities to find quick solutions to end this problem, it said. The statement mentioned the minister listened to a detailed explanation of the causes of these congestions and suggested solutions to be executed as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, informed sources said an order to investigate the validity of driving licenses issued to expats and revoke those no longer meeting the required conditions or those found to have been obtained illegally will be followed by another decision by Sheikh Talal, the minister also responsible for the Public Authority of Manpower. The decision will call to review the authenticity of work permits issued by the authority, along with an order to the interior ministry's residency affairs department to check the validity of procedures of granting residency permits to expats.

Sources said the two decisions are expected to be issued soon, aiming to comprehensively revamp current procedures and remedy any mistakes. If it is found that expats have received work and residency permits illegally, they will be canceled and their holders will be deported, while those at the interior ministry or manpower authority who helped them will be held to account.

Informed sources said instructions will be issued to review every file by and teams comprising of only Kuwaitis without any expat employee or legal consultant, expecting this to reveal large number of violators, who will be immediately deported. Any worker who is proven to have presented incorrect data will have their work permit canceled and become in violation of the residency law. Also, those working for someone other than their sponsors will also be deported. - Agencies