Developing ports infrastructure

‘PPA rights will be restored’

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 13: The Director General of the Public Ports Authority (PPA), Sheikh Yousef Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, said that the Authority seeks to develop the infrastructure of the ports of Kuwait and expand them and focus on enhancing them in digital terms, in order to keep abreast of the international regulations adopted in the developed countries, reports Al-Rai daily.

He explained the expansion that will take place in the port of Shuwaikh will be fully mechanized and controlled from the operating room without the need for crane operators on the ground.

In an interview with CNBC, AlSabah said that in the case of the port fund and the investment company KGL, the company had invested more than $85 million for more than 10 years. Four years ago, the Minister of Communications and the head of the Public Ports Authority, Issa Al-Kandari, transferred this file to the Public Prosecution, which in turn investigated the case over three years.

“The Dubai Public Prosecution is following up this matter, and we are confident in the UAE judiciary to take appropriate legal measures to find out the source of these funds. We expect the judicial authorities in Dubai to inform us of the source of these funds, which it said that it belongs to the so-called Port-Link GB,

Sheikh Yousef

and all these sources for us are not known,” he added..

He added that the PPA had already received $11 million from its contract with KGL Investment Company, where we were contacted by an institution in the Cayman Islands called Port Fund, and we have no legal or contractual relationship with them.

The amount was transferred by an unidentified party, and “We have informed all the regulatory bodies, including the Central Bank and the Commercial Bank, which received these funds in the account of the PPA, and the Public Prosecution was asked to find out the source of these funds and how to deal with them.

“We are waiting for the Kuwaiti courts to consider the case along with the courts and the public prosecution in the emirate of Dubai. We are confident that they will restore the rights lost by the PPA. This is public money and it must be returned and the issue cannot be negotiated. All money must be returned in accordance with the agreements signed between us and the investment company,” he added.

He pointed out the contract the PPA was signed with the KGL for investment, and not with any other company, and therefore there was no other company that must be dealt with.

He pointed out there are still 496 million dollars held by the UAE, pointing out that the institution has not been addressed by any official body in Dubai, but there are contacts between the UAE Attorney General and the Kuwaiti counterpart, and the PPA has addressed the issue to the Kuwaiti Public Prosecution.