‘KAC, KIA, inflation, tourism projects heavy burden’
In the two ministries that are often controversial due to their close connection with all state agencies, there seems to be more awareness in the new Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Adel Al-Mana and Minister of Finance Fahad Al-Jarallah compared to others about the thorny and complex issues awaiting them during the coming period.
The importance of these files is the fact that they are “chronic” and still difficult to resolve for several reasons, including constitutional ones related to the mechanism of approving and implementing laws, political ones related to the way the legislative authority deals and cooperates with the executive, and the ambiguity of the mechanism for appointing leaders in state institutions.
There are also the regional and international developments that force Kuwait, like other countries in the world, to take unconventional measures to keep pace with these challenges. In the Ministry of Education, the appointment of Minister Dr. Al-Mana comes at the start of the new academic year, with the concerns it brings related to the extent of the readiness of public and private schools, the competence of teachers, and the development of curricula, as well as the recurring concerns at Kuwait University and the technical institutions, and ways to secure a sound start of the Abdullah Al-Salem University.
Regarding job cadres and new schools, there are files related to placement of supervisory positions, suspended promotions, the establishment of schools in new areas and those suffering from a shortage of schools, forged and fictitious certificates, research institute appointments, scholarships in medical specialties, and many others.
In the Ministry of Finance, Minister Al-Jarallah is faced with a number of popular files that concern citizens, especially retirees, for which a very large parliamentary majority is pushing for their approval in the second session of the National Assembly, which begins next month.
At a time when the government seeks to regulate its expenditures and push for the approval of the “parliament-rejected” public debt law, enhancing non-oil revenues, supplementing the General Reserve Fund, protecting the future generations’ reserves, encouraging investments, and protecting Kuwait’s credit rating, it is considering an amendment to subsidies and fees on government services, amid parliamentary and popular concerns about the acquired rights of citizens being diminished. The heated controversy over the performance of Kuwait Airways and the Kuwait Investment Authority, the current inflation, and the launch of huge development and tourism projects remains a heavy burden awaiting the new Minister of Finance.
Source- Arab Times.
