‘Good governance key to progress’

‘IMF loans recipe for disaster’

“I AM positive there are a lot of people who were deceived by the role played by the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” columnist and former director of Culture Department at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“In other words, these people simply know nothing about the objectives that were behind the establishment of this Fund – that is to give loans or rather imposing loans in US dollars on poor countries in addition to dictating terms over their economic policies.

“In this context, I would like to mention here that one of my friends once forwarded an article to me that was titled ‘Zero Hunger’ which was written by Dr. Muhammad Abdullah Al-Reeh in which he said, ‘About five years ago, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), had sent a book to me on the former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who was elected in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006 and ruled the country for eight years.’

“Dr. Muhammad went on to say that FAO had requested him to translate this article ‘Zero Hunger’. He added, ‘In the 1980s Brazil was passing through a choking economic crisis and had to borrow from the IMF in the belief the Fund was the solution to the biting economic crisis.’

“Of course, Brazil, had no choice, but to abide by a bundle of unfair conditions that were imposed on it by the Fund and this resulted in the termination of millions of workers and the wages of the remaining workers were slashed and the subsidy was stopped in the name of austerity.

“But this action resulted in the collapse of the Brazilian economy and as a result several countries intervened in the Brazilian internal policies.

“Not just that, the World Bank (WB) imposed on Brazil some amendments or a set of articles to its constitution which agitated Brazil’s internal situations.

“Anyway, although Brazil ‘bowed’ to all the conditions that were imposed on it by both the IMF and the WB, the crisis aggravated more and more to such an extent only one percent of the Brazilians obtained fifty percent of the country’s national income.

“Such being the case, millions of Brazilians were reduced to live below the poverty line and this pushed the then Brazilian government to borrow once again from the IMF $5 billion under the impression that this loan will rescue it from the crisis, but it was not to be so.

“However, in the wake of such actions, Brazil became the most corrupt state in terms of crime rate and drug addiction and became the biggest debtor country in the world because its debt increased nine folds in just 12 years and the exchange rate of its national currency collapsed drastically.

“When President Da Silva went on to become the president from a ‘shoeshine boy’ in his speech said, ‘The IMF has succeeded in only one area, destroying the borrowing nations’.

“Saying this, he immediately hastened to help and support the poor families in his country and imposed taxes on the businessmen.

“Meanwhile, Da Silva concentrated on industry, mining, agriculture and education, and Brazil developed significantly to such an extent it is currently manufacturing aircraft and has built its own first nuclear submarine and settled all its debts within four years.

“It is needless to say this man represents an ideal personality who rescued and developed his country in just a few years and the same is applicable to Germany and Japan of post World War II, and the same can be said of East Asia states during the 1980s, India in the 1990s and Ethiopia and Rwanda in Africa are on their way to achieve the same.

“With regard to the State of Kuwait, this country doesn’t need any IMF money but can manage on its own albeit with proper and efficient administration.”

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Al-Rujaib

“The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) since its founding in 1961 plays a distinguished role in boosting the political, economic and social relations of the State of Kuwait with many countries throughout the world,” columnist and retired ambassador Muhammad Saud Yusuf Al-Bader wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“This happens in view of the Fund’s direct role and contribution towards the implementation of various projects in these countries and this was evident through the Fund’s financial grants and its effective role in terms of making soft loans to be repaid through reduced installments by the borrowers.

“As a matter of fact, the Fund since the very beginning of its inception managed by efficient directors general in cooperation with a bevy of choice advisors, specialists and employees who have performed their role sincerely and this ware certainly behind the success of this Kuwaiti institution as well as behind its distinguished role in building close relations with different countries of the world.

“It is needless to say this role still persists to achieve humanitarian objectives and develop the relations with both the sisterly and friendly countries, particularly since we know that KFAED was established for the sake of these countries which have expressed their thanks and gratitude to the State of Kuwait through the Fund.

“Meanwhile, we say the activities of the Fund and the Kuwait Red Crescent Society are known to everybody in view of their pioneering and effective role in assisting and helping various states and communities on our planets in general and Africa in particular.

“In this context, we cite the distinguished role played by the Direct Assistance Society and this was evident through the branches of this society which have been established in the African Continent doing charity work and also in the field of health and education.

“In this connection, we say the society has established a lot of schools, institutes and universities in different African countries from which many graduates have come out with distinction.

“Not only that, for the time being, there are a lot of African students currently studying in various Kuwaiti schools, institutes and universities to such an extent one of my friends had suggested that it would be better for the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to invite the African students to enlighten themselves about the activities of the Fund with detailed information about its activities, achievements and the projects which had been financed and implemented by the Fund in addition to the State of Kuwait effective contributions to their homelands.

“This is because we know many of these students are likely to occupy senior posts in their countries and this shall help boost the relations of the State of Kuwait with these countries at all levels and this shall serve the Kuwaiti foreign policy and our fair issues in the international forums in future.

“In conclusion, we hope KFAED will hasten to implement the proposal in question by taking appropriate measures by the concerned officials.”

“Impunity enjoyed by a criminal may be more serious than the crime itself; a criminal who is not punished may continue to commit crimes, believing that he is above the law and can do whatever he wants unchecked until the crime becomes a lifestyle for him,” columnist and Professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department, an advisor to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and secretary general of the Arab Fund for Human Rights (AFHR) Dr Ghanim Al-Najar wrote for AlJarida daily.

“On the other hand, punishment must be subjected to strict rules of justice to prevent any irresponsible official in any authority from exceeding the boundaries of law or the conditions of due justice and independent judiciary under the pretext of protecting security and stability of the State.

“Security and justice are two sides of the same coin. Security is not achieved without justice. Security is maintained as long as justice is preserved. The same can be said about security and freedom, which are not supposed to contradict each other. Defending the right of a criminal to have a justice trail is not part of criminal defense but defending and protecting the society.

“In view of the fact that not every criminal is punished and convicted, a criminal in the point of view of society is the one whose crime was identified and recorded. On the other hand, a criminal who is not arrested may continue as a public figure either in the field of politics, commerce etc. We have many free criminals who are outstanding figures in the society only because they have not been arrested, especially due to corruption related crimes.

“Crimes against humanity and war crimes are among the most serious crimes committed by human beings since they directly affect humans. That is why such crimes are not dropped with the passing of time. Those involved in such crimes can be sued at any time regardless of the period the crime was committed and the moment of filing the lawsuit. Once a dictatorial regime falls, accountability for crimes against humanity will be one of the most important issues discussed in transitional judiciary.

“Impunity has thus become a central point in building societies, particularly those having gone through civil wars, occupation or humanitarian crimes. For this reason, special international criminal tribunals have been established in Bosnia and sentenced Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic to 40 years imprisonment for the murder of Bosnian Muslims in the Srebrenica massacre.

“In 1995, there were two other trials; one for Sierra Leone and the other for Rwanda until the Rome Convention was signed in 1998 to establish the International Criminal Court, which was rejected by the United States, Israel and most of the Arab states, and others involved in humanitarian crimes. Despite the contradictions between the aforementioned parties, they all agree on one common issue, which is seeking escape from punishment”.

“We are not against the Minister of Health. We wish him nothing but the advancement of his ministry, which unfortunately is going from bad to worse, either because of accumulation of the past mistakes or mistakes in his management”, columnist, former MP and General Manager of Scope Satellite TV Talal Al-Saeed wrote for AlSeyassah daily.

“With every mistake we ask the usual question that seems to be unanswered – Where is the minister?

“A cleaning worker in Al-Babtain Center for Burns is responsible for patients’ files in the absence of the relevant staff who are tasked to do such sensitive work. The worker, who does not know Arabic or English, hands over the patients’ files, which means he could give the wrong file to a patient. This can result in catastrophes in terms of giving wrong medication.

“Another important thing is that this attitude is in complete inconsideration towards patients’ privacy. This incident was documented in audio and video clips, and circulated by the people all over Kuwait. The same question remains unanswered – Where is the minister?

“Another video shows a doctor examining a child with a stethoscope without putting the stethoscope in his ears. The doctor took it lightly even though such an attitude means that he will write prescription to the patient without examining the latter. How can such a doctor be allowed to continue in his work?

“I wonder how such doctors have become doctors when they are in need for moral treatment in order to feel the responsibility imposed on them in dealing with the lives of thousands of patients. We repeat the same unanswered question - where is the minister?

“The fact is that the revealed cases represent just a small percentage of the actual cases. They only indicate that many other cases have not been discovered.

“The problem is that the ministry insists on signing new contracts with doctors of that nationality despite the repeated shortcomings?

“So why can’t it turn to Asia to bring in doctors from India, Pakistan, or even Bangladesh, or agree with medical institutions like those in Thailand to run a hospital? Why doesn’t the ministry sign contracts with Korean medical institutions that are now first in the world in medical science?

“The same question is repeated but has no answer – where is the minister?”

“We do not support restrictions on freedoms. We have reached the point that those who insult us in their countries sleep safely in their homes, while we are imprisoned in our country if we talk about them because of these unfair laws,” columnist Talal Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“It is not a matter of issuing a decree on the need to eliminate fake accounts that emit poisons from time to time for reasons known.

“No one is unaware of those who are behind these accounts and financially support them after they felt they realized some illicit ambitions, forgetting that Kuwaitis were not led by others especially on fateful issues touching the supreme interests of the country. Kuwaitis will not be affected by these fake accounts and will not change their convictions no matter how they try to do so.

“Some may be influenced or believe news posted on fake accounts in the absence of the right news broadcasted by official sources which are usually delayed and leave the scene free for fake accounts to wreak havoc.

“The effective treatment of delusional accounts is to restore the prestige of the State, which was overtaken by the owners and supporters of delusional accounts.

“It is inconceivable that some senior officials in the government hit each other and some sheikhs do the same, especially the ruling sheikhs.

“Without God Almighty and the wisdom of the head of State, we would have seen a war in public as each Sheikh has his own tools and sources that leak the most accurate and most important information even from within the Council of Ministers which lost the concept of ministerial solidarity, while all its discussions are subject to leakage and publication.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb