24 November 2010
KUWAIT: MPs have reacted swiftly to a State Audit Bureau (SAB) report detailing numerous administrative and financial violations perpetrated by Ministry of Information staff, calling on information minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah to launch an immediate investigation and take legal action against all those involved.One MP, Musallam Al-Barrak, questioned Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah's competence to address the problems, suggesting that the minister is unlikely to take any steps to address them.
[Minister] Ahmad Al-Abdullah has repeatedly proven that he's incapable of performing his duties as head of the information ministry," Al-Barrak told Al-Rai, further accusing the minister of being ignorant as to what actually takes place in the information ministry. "The minister only visits the ministry buildings when there's a foreign delegation [visiting], when he participates to represent the ministry," the hard-line MP asserted. He also questioned the ministry's provision of archive material to what
the report said he were seditious satellite TV channels, asking, "How come the ministry provides archive materials to TV channels accused of inciting sectarianism in society?
Another MP, Dr. Faisal Al-Mislem said that he and other colleagues are currently waiting to see what action His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah takes over the accusations against the ministry contained in the report. Al-Mislem also condemned the ministry for providing the aforementioned TV channels with archive material, stating that this substantiates earlier claims that the government is complicit in sponsoring corrupt media.
Fellow parliamentarian Naji Al-Abdulhadi urged Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah to take all the necessary reformative steps in fulfillment of the promises he made during last year's interpolation. Al-Abdulhadi also indicated that the number of violations exposed in the SAB report further support earlier demands for the restructuring of the ministry into several separate authorities.
Another MP, Ali Al-Deqbasi, emphasized that the minister's actions over this case would be carefully scrutinized and followed up, while parliamentary colleague Falah Al-Sawagh used the issue to stress the "necessity for a cabinet reshuffle to take place." Al-Sawagh also accused the information minister of being unaware of the activities taking place at the ministry under his command.
MP Mohammad Hayef, meanwhile, demanded that a ministry undersecretary found by the SAB to be responsible for a number of violations should be prosecuted, while fellow parliamentarians Dr. Ali Al-Omair and Husain Al-Huraiti expressed concern at the seriousness of the violations cited in the report. Another MP, Saifi Al-Saifi, held the minister wholly responsible for the ministry's problems, stating that the violation reflect the high levels of negligence and laxity in supervision which the ministry is suffe
ring from.
The report, which was submitted following an investigation ordered by the cabinet in response to allegations of numerous violations by ministry staff, gives details of a number of staff violations, including the misappropriation of thousands of dinars intended to be spent on government projects for improper use as allowances, and massive spending on projects of little or no actual merit. The SAB also accused the ministry of failing to take the necessary procedures in accounting for the massive loss of pub
lic funds.
KUWAIT: MPs have reacted swiftly to a State Audit Bureau (SAB) report detailing numerous administrative and financial violations perpetrated by Ministry of Information staff, calling on information minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah to launch an immediate investigation and take legal action against all those involved.One MP, Musallam Al-Barrak, questioned Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah's competence to address the problems, suggesting that the minister is unlikely to take any steps to address them.
[Minister] Ahmad Al-Abdullah has repeatedly proven that he's incapable of performing his duties as head of the information ministry," Al-Barrak told Al-Rai, further accusing the minister of being ignorant as to what actually takes place in the information ministry. "The minister only visits the ministry buildings when there's a foreign delegation [visiting], when he participates to represent the ministry," the hard-line MP asserted. He also questioned the ministry's provision of archive material to what
the report said he were seditious satellite TV channels, asking, "How come the ministry provides archive materials to TV channels accused of inciting sectarianism in society?
Another MP, Dr. Faisal Al-Mislem said that he and other colleagues are currently waiting to see what action His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah takes over the accusations against the ministry contained in the report. Al-Mislem also condemned the ministry for providing the aforementioned TV channels with archive material, stating that this substantiates earlier claims that the government is complicit in sponsoring corrupt media.
Fellow parliamentarian Naji Al-Abdulhadi urged Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah to take all the necessary reformative steps in fulfillment of the promises he made during last year's interpolation. Al-Abdulhadi also indicated that the number of violations exposed in the SAB report further support earlier demands for the restructuring of the ministry into several separate authorities.
Another MP, Ali Al-Deqbasi, emphasized that the minister's actions over this case would be carefully scrutinized and followed up, while parliamentary colleague Falah Al-Sawagh used the issue to stress the "necessity for a cabinet reshuffle to take place." Al-Sawagh also accused the information minister of being unaware of the activities taking place at the ministry under his command.
MP Mohammad Hayef, meanwhile, demanded that a ministry undersecretary found by the SAB to be responsible for a number of violations should be prosecuted, while fellow parliamentarians Dr. Ali Al-Omair and Husain Al-Huraiti expressed concern at the seriousness of the violations cited in the report. Another MP, Saifi Al-Saifi, held the minister wholly responsible for the ministry's problems, stating that the violation reflect the high levels of negligence and laxity in supervision which the ministry is suffe
ring from.
The report, which was submitted following an investigation ordered by the cabinet in response to allegations of numerous violations by ministry staff, gives details of a number of staff violations, including the misappropriation of thousands of dinars intended to be spent on government projects for improper use as allowances, and massive spending on projects of little or no actual merit. The SAB also accused the ministry of failing to take the necessary procedures in accounting for the massive loss of pub
lic funds.
© Kuwait Times 2010
