KUWAIT CITY, March 16:  Some department heads at Farwaniya Labor Sector are allegedly involved in visa trading by manipulating the number of workers registered in files of private companies, say reliable sources from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.

Revealing the officials have deleted a number of workers from the database, sources said the ministry discovered a huge difference in the number of workers when it compared the data with the permits registered in the system of its interior counterpart.  Sources disclosed a file that belongs to one of the department heads includes five workers but the number registered in the same file at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) is 51, meaning 46 workers have been deleted.

When the ministry checked the other files, only three workers are registered in one file but the number at the Interior Ministry is 18; the second file includes five workers but the actual number at the Interior Ministry is 48; and the third file has only 12 workers compared to 65 at the Interior Ministry.

Sources added a file that belongs to an employee at the office of a senior ministry official has 21 workers but the number in the Interior Ministry is 68.  Sources stated the officials involved in this anomalous activity usually go to the department at 6:00 am to delete some workers from the database and insert new laborers for registration at MoI.

Moreover, sources said some employees sell queue numbers 1-30 to those who process transactions in the department for KD15 to KD20 each, instead of distributing these numbers for free.