KUWAIT: MPs surround Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr Bader Al-Essa during yesterday’s parliament session. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat KUWAIT: MPs surround Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr Bader Al-Essa during yesterday’s parliament session. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: The National Assembly approved during its regular session yesterday a number of proposals asking for an investigation into the international decision regarding the status quo of the local sports scene as well as the ban on Kuwait's football activities.

Proposals by a number of MPs called for an immediate investigation regarding the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and FIFA's suspension of the Kuwaiti football activities. They called for relaying their proposals to the parliamentary sports and youth affairs committee to investigate the reasons behind the ban and find a solution to this crisis.

The MPs also called on the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Youth Affairs to work with regional and international partners "to face this irresponsible decision that was against international laws governing sports."

The MPs denied that local sports regulations were in contradiction to international laws, affirming that the suspension was "tantamount to meddling with the State's authority." They called for formation of a 30-member advisory committee consisting of sports and legal experts in addition to former athletes to look into the problems facing the Kuwaiti sports.

GCC railway

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Assembly Affairs and Minister of Oil Dr Ali Al-Omair announced that Kuwait will remove 29 farming lands in the northern Al-Wafra region as they are located on the path of the planned GCC railway.

The Public Authority of Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) will compensate owners of those lands, Omair said during the session. He noted that PAAAFR is using border lands to create a vegetation to provide green cover and develop food security in the country.

Education costs

Separately, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr Bader Al-Essa said that the costs between the public and private education are subject to a number of aspects, including teaching cadres.

Cost comparison between public and private education are subject to a number of aspects, also including size of the land, location of the school and services provided by the schools, Essa said in response to a question during the session. Services provided in private education are varying, where the student cost goes up whenever the level of the cost of services rise and vice a versa, he added.

In the meantime, lawmakers agreed to give the parliamentary committee on education more time to look into any irregularities in the granting of scholarships to students attending Kuwait University and Public Authority for Applied Education and Training.

MPs' immunity

Earlier, the National Assembly refused the Public Prosecution's request of lifting parliamentary immunity from MP Nabeel Al-Fadhel in relation to a felony case and MP Abduallah Al-Ma'youf for a 'press offense.'

National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanem opened the session with a eulogy to former MPs Yousef Khaled Al-Mekhled Al-Mutairi and Dr Nasser Sarkhou, expressing his deepest condolences and sorrow for their death and praising their traits and services for Kuwait. "The Kuwaiti people are grieving over the death of the MP Al Mekhled who was a member of the constituent assembly and contributed to a enacting the Nations Constitution (in 1962)," he said. On the late MP Sarkhou, he said that such a key political figure in Kuwait has had accomplishments that "still shine on the national arena."

In the same session, Omair expressed the government condolences for the demise of the veteran MPs, hailing Mekhled's contribution to the establishment of the founding council and enactment of the Constitution. On MP Srakhou, he described the late lawmaker as a wise politician and decent parliamentarian who was keen on Kuwait's stability. - KUNA