ShareKUWAIT: The public prosecution yesterday referred an Egyptian female teacher accused of causing the death of a student to the criminal court. Nine-year-old Essa Al-Bloushi was suffering from a heart condition, and he died in February 2018 after he was reportedly mistreated and beaten by the teacher, according to the indictment. The teacher is facing four charges including beating the child to death, mistreating the child and slandering him and his mother. Earlier, the child's father Thamer Al-Bloushi said his son had periodic checks at the hospital and that the school was notified about his special health case. He added that on the day he fought with the teacher, he wanted to call home because he was too tired and refused going back to school after he returned home.
The father added that many other parents had the same complaints about the teacher's behavior with pupils. "I have been a teacher for 17 years myself. I hold a master's degree in educational psychology. I would give special care to special case kids even if they keep jumping on their desks. In this case, I would make the school administration deal with the matter and summon the parents instead of assaulting a nine-year-old child as if he was an adult," the father complained, adding that the teacher slapped Essa, pushed him against the wall, pulled him by the ear and threw him out of class. "She even insulted his mother before the school assistant manager, saying he was a rude child," he added, noting that Essa died the following day.
Future plans
The Interior Ministry's assistant undersecretary for residency affairs Maj Gen Talal Maarafi yesterday met with residency departments' managers to discuss their future work plans, said security sources. The sources added that Marafi stressed the significance of facilitating the process by using the e-government portal to meet the 'New Kuwait' vision with the ultimate goal of activating tourism and boosting the national economy, while at the same time being careful about Kuwait's demographic structure and security concerns.
Reduced fees
Director of the Public Authority for Manpower Ahmed Al-Moussa said the authority has started implementing the decision by Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Economic Development Hind Al-Sabeeh on reducing fees collected by the authority from citizens desiring to work for the private sector from KD 60 to only KD 10, plus only KD 10 in annual renewal fees. Moussa explained that the decision was made to reduce the burden on national labor and encourage more citizens to get private sector jobs.
Labor city
Kuwait Municipality Director Ahmed Al-Manfouhi announced that the contract of the 1,015,000 sq m labor city in Jahra will be signed with the investing company during the fourth quarter of 2019. Responding to a proposal by members Humoud Al-Enezi and Abdul Wahab Buresli on transferring the labor cities projects to the manpower authority, Manfouhi stressed that it was one of the municipality's responsibilities to support the state's plans to encourage the private sector take part in developing government projects. "Accordingly, the Municipal Council approved the labor cities' conditions, construction regulations and suggested locations, before referring the matter to the higher committee for studying development projects, pending offering the project for private sector investment," he explained. Manfouhi elaborated that Jahra labor city will be built over a total area of 1,015,000 sq m to accommodate 20,000 laborers.
Rent allowance
The Public Authority for Housing Welfare is currently considering the suspension of the KD 150 rent allowance of citizens who had been ignoring all housing alternatives they had been offered, noting that the suspension will reveal those who do not actually need housing welfare or are not serious in getting it. Concerning the legality of the decision, the authority explained the rent allowance is temporarily paid to citizens awaiting government provided housing, and that ignoring the chances they get and the continuation of receiving the allowance involves public fund violations.
800,000 electricity meters
The Ministry of Electricity and Water's (MEW) energy efficiency manager Iqbal Al-Tayyar said that MEW is currently focusing on a major project to install and maintain around 800,000 smart electricity meters. Meanwhile, the official noted that the ministry is currently working on readying well-trained national technicians to run future projects that require special abilities. Tayyar added that a meeting was held in this regard with the manager of the higher institute for energy Osama Al-Duaij and teaching staff member Khaled Bohindi to discuss the needed training courses.
By A Saleh
