KUWAIT CITY, June 29: A specific insurance company owned by one senior official from the Ministry of Health allegedly extorts money from Egyptian laborers to issue health insurance cards, reports Al-Dar daily.

The daily quoted sources as saying the company compels Egyptian laborers coming into the country to pay for this particular health card, besides the health insurance card they must obtain while in Kuwait.

Sources confirmed that extra fee is collected openly at the Health Ministry, in the presence of officials, notwithstanding the first card becomes useless once the laborers undergo another medical examination when they finally arrive in Kuwait to obtain work permits. Extra fees collected from Egyptian laborers violate the bylaws of GCC Executive Office, sources stressed.

Meanwhile, plan is underway to electronically connect the health centers accredited by the GCC Executive Office for examination of laborers in Cairo and Alexandria to the Kuwaiti health office in Cairo, Kuwait Embassy, the Ministry of Health and the Overseas Treatment Department.

Also, the company likely to implement the project is reportedly owned by another senior official in the ministry, sources added.