By B Izzak

KUWAIT: The Interior Ministry issued a stern warning yesterday against violators of the nightly curfew. Col Nasser Buslaib, head of the security media department, said that expats who violate the curfew will be deported while citizens will be referred to authorities for investigation. The Interior Ministry has urged the public to seek special permits available online if they wanted to leave home during curfew for emergency. Nearly 200 people have been arrested during curfew hours since the partial curfew was adopted around two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, MP Safa Al-Hashem said that the country is suffering today because of the wide-scale irregularities in the demographic balance which is severely tilted in favor of expats by 3 to 1. She said on Twitter that the problem is caused by visa traders and expatriate mafia which has infiltrated into the government and some of them are in important positions and have contributed to the rise of expats.

The lawmaker said she had in the past submitted many proposals and made calls but all of them went unheeded and that is why the country is reeling under the impact of coronavirus. A large number of lawmakers have already pressed the government to resolve the issue of expats with some calling to offer incentives to expats to leave to their countries to reduce the burden on the health system.

In the meantime, a number of MPs warned the government over irregularities in dispensing the aid package by delivering the aid to wealthy merchants and failing to help the needy. MP Riyadh Al-Adasani welcomed with caution the package announced by the government but demanded that the plan should be presented along with legislation to the national assembly.

He however warned that he will grill the prime minister or any minister if the government accepts demands by merchants which could cost state coffers by some 20 percent of gross domestic product and could lead to the state reserve fund being eroded. MP Mohammad Al-Mutair called for the need to preserve the country's finances because no one knows how long this crisis would last, adding that supporting influential wealthy people is a big mistake.