Feeling seasick on the government’s ship

New authorities were established few years ago, in a move that is contrary to the calls of merging authorities and removing overlaps between state departments. The government has failed for over 25 years to merge any authorities or move any sectors, saving perhaps for alleviating some of the burdens on Kuwait Municipality and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in the form of the creation of the Public Authority for Manpower and Public Authority for the Disabled. However, the government is yet to introduce laws to develop the functional performance of its departments. With that in mind, trying to analyze this situation will leave us suffering from similar symptoms to those felt by someone suffering from sea sickness.

I will mention here a number of newly established authorities, some of which I did not understand the

All of these new departments were established by the cabinet in recent years, when it is supposed to merge and restructure state departments

purpose of, in an attempt to comprehend their role and the purpose of their establishment. They include: • Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects. • Public Authority for Roads and Land Transport. • Public Authority for Communications and Information Technology.

• General Authority to Take Care of the Printing and Publication of Holy Quran. • Kuwait Drug and Food Control Administration. • Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority. There are departments in the state such as the government performance’s follow up authority, technical department for privatization, information technology department, financial auditors’ department, and a number of authorities which most people never new about until differences between officials there started to come to surface, such as the case with the Public Anti-Corruption Authority. All of these new departments were established by the cabinet in recent years, when it is supposed to merge and restructure state departments. I personally got sea sick while boarding the government’s ship as it struggles to find safe grounds to dock on because of all of its conflicting decisions. — Translated by Kuwait Times