Gypsum firm allegedly cites grave breaches tied to housing projects
Violations include approval, supply of materials
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 16: Less than two months after the Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Housing Affairs Dr Rana Al-Faris referred the file of suspending some housing projects to the Public Authority for Anti-Corruption and State Audit Bureau on suspicions of conducting tenders in the corridors of Public Authority for Housing Welfare, it has been discovered that a company specialized in gypsum ceilings submitted a complaint few days ago related to grave breaches in some housing projects, reports Al-Qabas daily
The daily quoting an informed source revealed that the violations include approval and supply of materials for the installation of roofing tiles from coated gypsum board, as well as sound-insulating tiles and their accessories for projects in the corporation, being a local product by companies that bought some of the products from unknown sources, and taking advantage of some approvals that do not correspond to their scheduled activities according to the licenses granted to her.
The same source indicated that one of the companies contacted the director of the design department as he chairs the committee to verify and uncover ongoing violations in the residential projects.
He explained that “some companies supply the materials despite lack of license from the Public Authority for Industry to manufacture them, then supplying them to the projects of the institution, as if it is licensed and locally produced.
He stated “the activity of some companies that supply materials for the residential projects, according to the classification of the Public Authority for Industry, is to produce different materials from the gypsum board and roof tiles,” stressing that laws of the Public Authority for Industry do not allow adding any product outside the sector’s activity without the combination of two different manufacturing activities under the same license, as it is currently in place.”
The matter calls for an investigation into the matter to take deterrent legal measures and to refer the case to concerned legal authorities to take the necessary action.
They should stop accepting or approving projects in which violating products are used, according to what the source mentioned.
He indicated some of the products for ceilings must match with the technical requirements and should have international accreditation.
He called for tightening control over the companies implementing contracts and activate the regulations towards companies violating the implementation of contracts.
He indicated some roofing materials that are often installed in schools must comply with technical and environmental requirements and be fire-resistant, while making sure there are no materials that produce toxic and carcinogenic substances when exposed to high temperature and humidity.
This requires sudden periodic visits from concerned officials to the factories that import materials for their projects to see the nature of the products if they are manufactured locally or imported from abroad.
Minister of State for Housing Affairs, Dr Rana Al-Faris, throughout the last period, has sought to combat any suspicions of corruption and transgression of regulations, laws or public funds, as many factfinding committees were formed this year for that purpose, some of which resulted in the referral of senior officials to the Public Authority for Anti-Corruption and State Audit Bureau for investigation.