Cabinet backs public works minister

By B Izzak KUWAIT: MP Dawood Maarafi filed to grill the Minister of Public Works on Tuesday over the alleged squandering of public funds and administrative corruption of the ministry and its affiliated roads authority. The lawmaker said after handing over a copy of his grilling, which contained a number of allegations against the minister, …

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By B Izzak

KUWAIT: MP Dawood Maarafi filed to grill the Minister of Public Works on Tuesday over the alleged squandering of public funds and administrative corruption of the ministry and its affiliated roads authority. The lawmaker said after handing over a copy of his grilling, which contained a number of allegations against the minister, that he filed the grilling over a “number of violations and administrative corruption”.

Maarafi accused the minister of squandering public funds, failure to apply the law regarding the roads authority, which comes under the minister, and also failing to conduct the ministry’s work. Last week, MP Mubarak Al-Tasha filed to grill the minister over alleged violations and a plan to award road repair contracts to foreign companies at highly inflated prices. The Council of Ministers expressed its total support for the minister.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly public works committee has urged Minister of Public Works Amani Bugammaz during a meeting to accelerate plans to repair roads in Kuwait ahead of the rainy season, the head of the panel said. MP Ahmad Lari said the minister and her team made a presentation about roads that were damaged during heavy rains in the last season and the process of awarding contracts to foreign companies to repair those roads while negotiating the right price.

The minister explained the issue concerning several contracts that will be awarded to companies amid allegations that companies have bid highly inflated prices. MP Lari said the presentation described some roads as high-risk roads that should be repaired as soon as possible. Also, MP Muhalhal Al-Mudhaf has sent a series of questions to Minister of Electricity and Water Jassem Al-Ostath over the possibility that Kuwait could face a shortage in power supplies in 2025.

He asked the minister if this is true and what the ministry’s preparations are. The lawmaker asked the minister if manufacturers of turbines and transformers have delayed the delivery to Kuwait by three years from now, adding that there are reports that four power plants, including the one in Subbiya, will not come online on time. He asked the minister if this was true.

In another series of questions, the lawmaker asked Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah about the ministry’s response to a ruling by the Iraqi Federal Court annulling an agreement to regulate the navigation line between Kuwait and Iraq in Khor Abdullah. The Federal Court said last month that the ratification of the agreement by the Iraqi parliament was unconstitutional and scrapped the agreement. MP Mudhaf asked the minister about the legal measure the ministry plans to take against the Iraqi court ruling.

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