Education refers 10 employees for investigation

Face charges of violating Audit Bureau rules and regulations

KUWAIT CITY, March 27: Ministry of Education has reached the turning point in reckoning and accountability by referring 10 employees to investigation for violating Audit Bureau rules and regulations, reports Al Rai daily.

In this context, acting Assistant Undersecretary of Legal Affairs Fahad Al-Ghais indicated 2-7 days pay will be deducted from the monthly salaries of implicated employees for violations that include negligence to duty.

He cited cases where some accountants hastily made the catering companies to display prices of foodstuff sold in the schools, and addressed security companies to provide 33 security officers, and again requested an extension of contract for transportation without prior approval of the Audit Bureau.

The violations were noticed by Audit Bureau despite the Undersecretary Dr Haitham Al-Athari had issued a circular on the mechanism of extending expired contracts, report added.

Meanwhile, a ministry official was quoted as saying the ministry’s decision to punish employees is a double axe having its own negative and positive aspects, indicating the measure will help in curbing violations but since there’s no mechanism to identify the main causes of violations and the suitable punishments, the weaker vessels will face the rigors of law while the powerful ones go unpunished — even though such violations are normally linked to more than department of the ministry.