KUWAIT: The
Ministry of Education will not sign contracts with expatriate teachers and will
cover shortages by hiring Kuwaiti graduates, children of Kuwaiti women and
bedoons who have valid security IDs, official sources said. This decision was
made in an attempt to prevent a problem that happened last year when the
ministry hired teachers living in Kuwait, but later discovered violations in
work permits given to them before coming to Kuwait.

The education
ministry had then to terminate expat teachers' contracts at the instructions of
the Civil Service Commission and Public Authority for Manpower, the sources
said. "One of the terminated contracts belonged to a teacher whose work
permit said that he was brought in by a restaurant to work as a chef," the
sources explained.

In other news, MP
Hamdan Al-Azmi warned Public Works Minister Jenan Boushehri from "an
environmental catastrophe" in Sabah Al-Ahmad City due to her ministry's
alleged inaction. "Sabah Al-Ahmad City is suffering from an environmental
catastrophe due to negligence and inaction of your ministry," he
said.  "The city's sewer drainage
station has a maximum capacity of 9,000 cubic meters, while the city produces
24,000 cubic meters." He said a new station must be installed to deal with
crisis immediately.

By A Saleh