Clarifications eyed on signed deals
KUWAIT CITY, July 25: MP Musallam Al-Barrak has raised doubts on the recent visit of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to the Caribbean islands, accusing some parties of trying to transform the official visit into a personal tour at the expense of the government.
Admitting no one has the right to question the personal holidays of the premier as this is his privilege, Al-Barrak clarified he has nothing against officials spending their holidays abroad but it is unacceptable if some of them try to transform their official trips to other countries as personal tours, since this is tantamount to squandering public funds.
Wondering why the prime minister chose Antigua and Barbuda as the first two stops in his official tour to the Latin American countries, Al-Barrak pointed out both places are just small islands in the Caribbean with a total area of not more than 442 square kilometers and population of not more than 82,000. He asked how Kuwait can benefit from the agreements signed with the governments of these islands, considering their economic growth rate is less than 0.5 percent.
Al-Barrak wants to know if the person in charge of the premier's itinerary has taken into consideration the feelings of Kuwaitis when he included Cuba in the tour. "Is it logical to include this country in the itinerary of the prime minister a few days before the 20th anniversary of the brutal Iraqi occupation of Kuwait? Everybody knows that Cuba supported Iraq's deceitful acts against Kuwait. Cuba and Yemen voted against United Nations (UN) resolution number 678, which authorized the coalition to use force in liberating Kuwait from the claws of the Iraqi regime at the time. Do they want to convince us that the agreements signed with Cuba are in the interest of Kuwait?" the lawmaker asked.
Demand
Unveiling his plan to forward questions to the premier upon his return to the country, Al-Barrak said he will demand clarifications on the signed agreements, approved investments, names of the members of the accompanying delegation, their duties, and meetings attended by the private sector representatives who are part of the premier's entourage. He hopes to get adequate and clear answers from the prime minister, especially since the visit was supposed to serve the interests of Kuwait and its people. He claimed the prime minister was keen on accompanying the director of Kuwait Fund for Development and managing director of Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) to invest in various projects in the aforementioned countries to boost their economies and serve their citizens.
Al-Barrak has also accused the government of using public money to save two tycoons who issued a license to two cargo airlines. He alleged the executive spent $550 million to purchase two civilian cargo airlines, adding he received information from a reliable source that the Supreme Defense Council had earlier rejected the deal because the airplanes are actually intended for civilian cargo services, so it would be difficult to transform them into military cargo. He called on the government to cancel this suspicious deal to thwart the attempts of some parties to embezzle public funds.
© Arab Times 2010
