SUBSCRIPTION THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2014 RAJAB 16, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Filipinos Qat habit Oscar winning Sevilla stun criticize govt drains Yemenís ‘Sugar Man’ Benfica on over MERS precious director commits penalties to ‘clearance’2 groundwater14 suicide39 maintain20 jinx Qatar to end sponsorship Max 35º Min 22º system for expat workers High Tide 00:31 & 11:38 Low Tide Doha unveils labor reforms but no timetable 06:05 & 18:55 40 PAGES NO: 16166 150 FILS DOHA: Qatar, host of the 2022 football World Cup, said yesterday it will abolish its controversial sponsorship sys- Assembly discusses state assets tem for foreign workers, whose treatment in the energy- rich state has stirred mounting international criticism. FIFA chief Sepp Blatter described the move as a “signifi- By Staff Reporter cant step,” but Amnesty International said it lacked sub- stance and amounted to a “missed opportunity”. The KUWAIT: The National Assembly yesterday discussed sponsorship system “will in a marathon four-hour secret session the position of be replaced with a system Kuwaiti foreign investments estimated by some par- based on employment liamentary sources at around KD 146 billion. contracts,” as part of a Following the secret session, speaker Marzouq Al- package of labor reforms, Ghanem said that the finance minister made a presen- said an interior ministry tation about the financial position of the state and statement read out at a Kuwaiti assets invested abroad. The session was press conference in Doha. attended Bader Al-Saad, director of Kuwait Sponsorship systems for Investment Authority (KIA), which manages Kuwaiti foreign workers exist in investments abroad. Neither the finance minister nor most Gulf countries, which Saad issued any statement. employ millions of foreign- But parliamentary sources said that the total size of ers, especially from Asia. Kuwaiti assets stood at KD 146 billion on March 31, of The system has been which KD 82 billion is the value of the fund for future strongly criticized by generations and the rest is the state reserve fund. MP human rights groups as Abdulrahman Al-Jeeran told reporters that MPs were open to abuse and likened Brig Mohammed Al-Atiq very pleased by the presentation of the government. to modern-day slavery. Kuwait has built up massive assets on the back of Bahrain abolished the system in 2009, but Kuwait posting a budget surplus in each of the past 14 fiscal dropped reported plans to follow suit in 2011. The Qatari years. reforms, which need to be submitted to the emirate’s Ghanem said that the Assembly agreed to ask the consultative council and chamber of commerce and Audit Bureau to conduct a comprehensive assessment industry before being adopted, will also end the long- of the management of the Kuwaiti investments. KUWAIT: Finance Minister Anas Al-Saleh confers with Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem during a session at standing requirement that foreign workers obtain their Continued on Page15 the National Assembly yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat employer’s consent before leaving the country. Continued on Page 15 Red Crescent chief Barjas dies aged 83 By A Saleh and Agencies KUWAIT: Kuwait yesterday lost Barjas Humoud Al-Barjas, a man who dis- tinguished himself in the fields of information and humanitarian relief. He was 83. At the time of his death, he held the position of chairman of Kuwait Red Crescent Society, which he joined in 1994. Before that and since 1950 till 1973, he worked at the ministry of health, rising through the ranks from an employee at the quarantine department to subsequently becoming one of the ministry’s undersecretaries. From 1976 until 1992, he held the position of chairman and director general of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). He also held the position of chair- man of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA) during the 1980s. Continued on Page15 Barjas Humoud Al-Barjas Turkey mine blast kills 245 SOMA, Turkey: Anger was growing across Turkey yester- day as hopes faded for scores of workers trapped in a col- lapsed mine and the death toll hit 245, edging it closer to Hagel urges becoming the country’s worst-ever industrial disaster. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Ankara and Gulf to unite Istanbul, accusing the government and mining industry of negligence, as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince called yesterday rejected claims of government culpability. “We have wit- for stronger military cooperation between the United nessed one of the biggest work accidents in our recent States and the Arab monarchies of the Gulf whose history,” Erdogan told reporters after visiting the mine in security he said was under threat. Crown Prince the western town of Soma in Manisa province. Salman bin Abdulaziz, who also holds the defence Erdogan said figures remained uncertain but mining portfolio, made the remarks at a meeting in the Saudi operators thought 120 workers were still trapped follow- city of Jeddah between US Defence Secretary Chuck ing Tuesday’s explosion, caused by an electrical fault. Hagel and ministers from the six-nation Gulf Continued on Page 15 Cooperation Council. Hagel for his part stressed that Washington remained “committed” to the oil-rich region’s security and stabili- ty. “We meet today amid persistent threats to the region’s security and stabili- ty,” which “necessitate coor- dination in politics and defence strategies of our countries,” said Prince Salman. “The security of our countries and our peo- ple is in danger,” he added. The crown prince sin- gled out concerns over “political crises” in some Chuck Hagel Arab states, as well as “attempts to acquire weapons of mass destruction and meddling of certain states” in the internal affairs of others, in an apparent reference to Iran. He stressed that “historic and strategic relations” between Washington and GCC countries had “contributed to cementing security and stability in the region.” Hagel also called for cooperation in dealing with security threats. “The security challenges facing this region threaten the region as a whole, and no one nation can address them alone,” he said at the end of MANISA, Turkey: Miners carry out the body of one of the meeting. their coworkers yesterday after an explosion and Continued on Page 15 fire in their coalmine in this western Turkish province. — AFP LOCAL THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2014 82 held in security campaign KUWAIT: The security campaign at Qurain markets. By Hanan Al-Saadoun building. Filipinos criticize govt for * North Ports Customs officers foiled an KUWAIT: Immigration detectives launched attempt to smuggle a large quantity of a campaign at Qurain markets in the pres- paan, 50,000 cigarettes and 4,530 packs of ence of Director General of Immigration fruit tobacco. The officers also found med- MERS ‘clearance’ CONDITION Detectives Maj Gen Ghazi Al-Maei, resulting ical creams and cosmetics that do not have in the arrest of 82 men and women who are clearance from the Health Ministry. wanted to serve sentences and in violation * Ahmadi security campaigns resulted in of residence laws. Immigrations detectives the arrest of a wanted Asian with 72 bottles ‘No discrimination against OFWs’ department said such sudden campaigns of liquor. Two Asians were caught with sev- have achieved notable successes and will en bags of locally made liquor and a third By Ben Garcia continue. Asian was caught with 13 bottles. * Firemen rescued a family of three in * Narcotics authorities arrested an Asian KUWAIT: The Philippines Department of Health addition to an infant after a fire broke out with two kilograms of heroin, 16,000 illicit (DOH) wants Pinoys in the Middle East who have in a Farwaniya building, while a second tablets, 500 gm of shabu, and discovered a tested positive for the deadly Middle East team fought the fire and a third team new method of smuggling in meat and fish Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus to get worked on inspecting and ventilating the containers. clearance first before returning to the Philippines. Some netizens however criticized the govern- ment’s move, saying Filipinos only have one place to return, regardless whether they have contracted the virus or not. “How come they want us to be checked and be clear of the virus? If we do have the virus, what is the government’s solution? Will they not allow us to enter the Philippines? Where should we go then?” one OFW commented. The Philippines last month confirmed the death of a Filipino in the United Arab Emirates after he contracted the virus from a hospital. He was a nurse in the hospital, while another male Filipino nurse working at the same hospital reportedly returned to Manila after testing positive for MERS without knowing the results of his test. Eventually, official announcement of any medical clearances directed the Overseas Workers Welfare the Philippines health authority tested him nega- necessary for returning OFWs from the Middle Administration to include a module on MERS in the tive. Philippine Health Secretary Enrique Ona said East,” the advisory reads. orientation seminar for departing Filipinos abroad. the DOH would recommend to Philippine The Philippine Embassy advises its nationals to MERS can cause coughing, fever and lung infec- embassies in the Middle East, where the virus is avoid going out unnecessarily in order to minimize tions, which can lead, in some cases to fatal pneu- said to have originated, to require Filipinos to pres- the risk of being infected, the advisory continued. monia and eventually death. ent a clearance showing they are free of the dis- The advisory added that if symptoms of the virus The World Health Organization (WHO) has not ease before they are allowed to depart for the manifest, including persistent coughing, they come out with a special advisory on the matter and Philippines.