KUWAIT CITY, April 21: The government should intervene and prevent a social disaster by helping nearly 500 Kuwaiti families which suffered massive losses in the share market due to government’s refusal to support poor-performing companies and the laxity of officers in performing their monitoring role, reliable sources told Al-Shahed daily.
 Sources say most of the money lost in the share market belonged to middle income families and the dire strait of poor performing companies is being reflected on these families.
Some banks, meanwhile, are putting intense pressure on these families to pay back their debts which are estimated to be around KD 4 billion, say sources, adding the families had failed to pay their dues due to their hard circumstances and the unstable markets.
Sources say the companies listed in the bourse are trying to pay back their debts and restructure themselves to surmount the crisis. The affected shareholders who are expected to go bankrupt are planning to file lawsuits to get back their money, but authorities do not care about their demands, say sources. Subsequently, sources say, the number of cases to be filed in courts will increase within the coming phase. The government can prevent this by intervening immediately, they added.
Meanwhile, the interim Cabinet has approved the proposed cancellation of the housing debts of martyrs and prisoners of war (POWs) whose families benefit from the housing care program, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily quoting sources.
Sources clarified the previous payments made by these families will be refunded to them fully, adding the Ministry of Finance has been mandated to settle the remaining installments.
In another development, the Ministry of Interior is said to have  violated the new Law for the Handicapped when it cancelled a previous decision to exempt the disabled from paying fees, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting Board Chairman of the Kuwaiti Society for Children with Special Needs Nawaf Al-Suwait.
Al-Suwait lamented the families of the handicapped will face enormous problems due to this decision, which contradicts the call of the interim government to fully support people with special needs.
In another development, Al-Suwait affirmed he met the assistant undersecretary for financial affairs in the Ministry of Defense recently and they discussed the implementation of a decision to increase the allowances of workers with handicapped children from KD 75 to KD 100. He said the proposal was approved in 2010 and the assistant undersecretary vowed to expedite procedures for its full implementation.