Kuwait: 'Govt shielding fat cats'

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22 November 2007
KUWAIT: Outspoken opposition MP Musallam Al-Barrak and new Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali were involved in a strong verbal exchange over allegations about wrongdoing in state-run investments.

The spat was triggered by accusations by Barrak that the state-owned has failed to enforce a court ruling awarding it $15 million from a national investment company.

The lawmaker also used initials of what he called as senior officials who made illegal profits of tens of millions of dollars utilizing their posts and influence and threatened to expose their names in the coming Assembly session if the minister did not act. Shamali responded strongly, accusing Barrak of stating unfounded allegations and challenged him to submit documents to the Audit Bureau or any other body.

The minister also described Barrak's attitude in making allegations as "unacceptable" and that he was looking for cheers rather than facts.

Barrak responded by accusing the minister of being unable to perform his job, saying that influential people were stronger than him and that he was afraid that they can dismiss him from his ministerial post. The lawmaker also charged that the board of directors of the Kuwait Investment Co, a state firm, recently held a meeting in a yacht and when they found it was not good enough, they moved the meeting to another. Barrak also charged that a few years ago, Kuwait Airways Corp paid a bribe of $ 750,000 to a Philippines minister.

At the end of the tirade, MPs voted to refer the debate between the minister and Barrak to the Assembly's public funds protection committee for an investigation. The duel came during the debate called by MPs over the government program of action for the coming three years which the Assembly began yesterday. MP Ali Al-Rashed lashed out at the program as simply "wishes" that are not likely to materialize.

Rashed charged that armament deals made by the Kuwaiti army are clouded with "lots of suspicion" and claimed that purchased arms were "sitting in stores". He said that a number of arms deals were made under the pretext of foreign pressure only to "benefit some people", and included unnecessary weapons, some of which were not working. Rashed said that based on reports, about 80 percent of the weapons "are not in good condition" and accused "fat cats" of profiteering.

During the debate, MPs strongly lashed out at health services, which they said have badly deteriorated.

Health Minister Abdullah Al-Taweel acknowledged that public health services were below the desired standard. He said that buildings are old and capacity of most hospitals is lower than demand. The minister said the main problem lies in the administrative staff, which accounts for 60 percent of the medical care sector compared to just 10 percent in other countries.

Taweel however said that he had signed 21 contracts in the past few weeks to increase the capacity of hospitals by 180 beds to 213 beds in each hospital and the plan will be completed within eight months.

At the end of the debate, MPs voted to refer all comments to the Assembly committee which is preparing the response to the Amiri Address.

By B Izzak

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