Panel chief expresses dismay over MoF circular about public tenders
Recommendations ignored: Al-Fadl
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 15: Chairman of the parliamentary Businesses Environment Improvement Committee MP Ahmed Al-Fadl has expressed disappointment over circular number 5/2020 issued by the Ministry of Finance about the public tenders and purchases of public institutions.
Al-Fadl disclosed that in July 2020, the committee met with representatives of the concerned public institutions including the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises; during which an agreement was reached to prioritize small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in awarding tenders lower than KD75,000.
He said the circular ignored the recommendations of the committee and the concerned institutions; pointing out the SMEs urgently need support due to the negative consequences of coronavirus and the accompanying economic problems.
He also revealed that the government has yet to submit any bill to address the rental issue concerning commercial shops and small businesses. He said the owners of shops have been complaining because the landlords are asking them to pay the rent during the lockdown months. He added they are facing a problem with the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), which is forcing them to submit bank statements showing full payment of the salaries of their workers as a condition for the renewal of their licenses.
He then asked HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid to monitor the performance of the relevant institutions, indicating the shortcomings of the Finance and Social Affairs ministries are so clear such that grilling is not necessary to highlight their inadequacies.
On the other hand, MP Riyadh AlAdasani stressed that he is keen on questioning the concerned ministers and HH the Prime Minister for any flaw. He said nothing has changed despite the grilling motions he submitted.
He added the formation of the Board of Directors of Kuwait Finance House (KFH) does not reflect the large contribution of the government. He suggested the government should hold the reins of leadership in institutions where it has large contributions, instead of leaving them in the hands of private sector traders.
About his colleagues who opposed the grilling motions that he submitted, Al-Adsani described them as representatives or ‘mandoubs’ of the government; indicating they adopted such a position because of financial privileges.
He affirmed that Kuwait Financial Investigations Unit has referred five out of 12 files concerning MPs to the Public Prosecution due to the suspicious swelling of their bank accounts and money transfers in and outside Kuwait. He added four cases were referred to the courts and one was referred to the State Security Department.