KUWAIT: The 2020 National Assembly elections are expected to take place on November 28th, Al-Jarida daily reported yesterday quoting sources familiar with preparations currently taking place at the Interior Ministry's Elections Department. Health precautions such as social distancing and requiring face masks will be observed at election halls, which will be open to voters between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm, said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The number of eligible voters reached around 574,000, the majority of whom are men, the sources said, noting that the number was calculated after removing around 7,000 voters who have passed away, as well as citizens convicted in cases of offending God or His Highness the Amir.

Residency violators
On a different topic, Al-Jarida daily also reported that security authorities in Kuwait are preparing a plan to arrest and deport around 126,000 expatriates living illegally in Kuwait, and who have failed to avail an amnesty announced in April for residency violators to leave the country without paying fines. Preparations include carrying out 'large-scale' security campaigns around Kuwait next month, according to security sources quoted in the report. Meanwhile, the Public Authority for Manpower and Ministry of Commerce and Industry are coordinating to come up with a mechanism to identify inactive businesses that employ a large number of marginal laborers in Kuwait, said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Education process
In other news, the same daily reported yesterday that 97 percent of grade 12 students attended online cases on Monday; the second day since the Ministry of Education launched the second semester of the 2019-2020 school year for 12th graders at public and Arabic private schools. A number of educational zone directors quoted in the report said that the high attendance number reflects the 'huge success' of the e-learning experiment; the first real experience in which the Education Ministry provides learning exclusively through electronic means.

Silos
Separately, Al-Rai daily reported that a number of state departments held internal discussions recently on the possibility of establishing silos in different locations around the country, in order to provide further food security since the current silos in Kuwait are mostly located at Shuawikh Port. "The recent blast at Beirut Port led state authorities to revive discussions over the possibility of building silos in other locations than Shuwaikh Port," said anonymous sources quoted in the report. They noted that Kuwait Flour and Mills Company has also reopened discussion into a proposal it had submitted in 2011 to build silos at other ports in Kuwait, except for the Shuaiba Port for environmental reasons since it is primarily used for shipment of oil product.