Anti-corruption body launches probe into PADA forgery reports
KUWAIT CITY, July 17: Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) has detected fraud in the reports of the Public Authority for the Disabled Affairs (PADA), which indicates “suspicion of crime related to corruption, violation of the provisions of the Penal Code, and damages to public money”, reports Al-Qabas daily.
According to informed sources, the anti-corruption watchdog initiated investigations related to forgery of official documents and changes in the reports of committees within PADA.
They explained that preliminary investigations showed that the changes in the committees’ reports were based on orders issued by officials within the commission. Investigations have been launched in this regard.
In the same context, Nazaha received a report of profiteering suspicion regarding the issuance of certificates of mental and visual disabilities of “severe and moderate” degrees to more than 2,300 citizens in order for them to benefit from the services they receive from other government agencies.
Some of the disabled persons registered in the statements obtained driving licenses, despite the presence of certificates proving that they have “moderate or severe” mental disabilities.
According to PADA’s data, there are 54,421 registered with the authority, of whom 9,153 suffer from physical disabilities, 14,769 from mental disabilities and 13,251 motor disabilities.
New mechanism: Director-General of Kuwait Municipality Eng. Ahmad AlManfouhi issued a circular on the mechanism for approving social allowance and the provisions for controlling its disbursement, reports Al-Qabas daily.
In his circular, Eng. Al-Manfouhi called on all employees subject to the provisions of the decision of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to ensure that administrative units are obligated to receive and collect social status declarations for employees working in their administrative units.
He explained that consolidated statements must be prepared for employees. They should include the name and civil ID number of those who submitted the declaration and those who did not. Those statements are approved and sent to the Personnel Department, which in turn will follow-up with the highest official of each administrative unit.
The Personnel Department is tasked to review the data received and verify in case of any fraud that led an employee to obtain social allowance unjustly. If that is the case, the employee will be subjected to disciplinary accountability for providing false data or for failure to update the social status data.
Eng. Al-Manfouhi called on the Personnel Department to commit to submitting an annual periodic statistical report on the number of employees who submitted the declaration and who did not, as well as those who were referred to accountability. In the event that the employee did not submit the social allowance declaration within a maximum of two months from the date of issuance of the circular, the disbursement of social allowance will be suspended as a precautionary measure until the Personnel Department is provided with evidence proving that the employee has complied with the directives. Million for furniture: The Ministry of Education, as part of its preparations for the next academic year, has allocated a one million dinar budget for school furniture, reports Al-Anba daily quoting reliable sources.
The same sources said a tender has been floated in this regard. The sources indicated the tender amount can be increased, given the fact that approximately 16 new schools will be opened in the new scholastic year, and stressed the need to provide furniture in an integrated manner for all schools, whether new or those which need to replace their furniture.