KUWAIT: MP Dr Humoud Al-Khodair expressed regrets that a bedoon (stateless) man had set himself ablaze recently to highlight the sufferings of stateless people, saying that this calls for immediate solutions to the decades-long problem.

A stateless person reportedly set himself on fire outside the Naieem police station on Thursday in a bid to bring attention to the plight of bedoons due to their illegal status. The man survived but was hospitalized with severe burns.

"We never wished things would go this far," he stressed, noting that he totally rejects the idea of committing suicide. "Nevertheless, what happened with this man reflects how desperate stateless people have become," he added, calling for immediate reaction to end their problems.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary committee entrusted with studying the situations of stateless people recently recommended prioritizing the employment of bedoons next to citizens, and before conserving the appointment of other GCC nationals then Arab expats. Another proposal made by MP Ahmad Al-Fadhl recommended prioritizing the employment of stateless people according to their degrees in various jobs in co-ops and the Kuwait Ports Authority.

Fiber optics

Minister of Housing and Minister of State for Utilities Yasser Abul stressed that the project to replace landline with fiber optic cables was facing problems in some areas. Some of these problems face technical teams who are denied access by homeowners to install new systems, the minister said. He added that the fact that some units in new areas, such as Jaber Al-Ahmed City, are not ready for the systems is another obstacle, as well as the long paper work procedures needed.

By A Saleh