ShareKUWAIT: Two lawmakers said yesterday they will file to grill Interior and Health ministers if they did not take necessary actions over suspicion of corruption in their ministries. MP Riyadh Al-Adasani said yesterday he has informed Interior Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah that a businessman has left the country and returned illegally because he has a travel ban against his name.
The lawmaker said that the action is an indication of negligence at border points especially in Salmi where some people banned from travel were allowed to leave. Adasani called on the minister to launch an investigation to identify those who smuggle people with travel ban out of the country, adding that if the minister does not take the necessary actions, he will file to grill him.
MP Omar Al-Tabtabai also warned that he will file to grill Health Minister Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah over reports of corruption at the new Sabah hospital mega project. He said that he was informed by authorities which supervise projects that a contractor at the project, costing over KD 190 million, has demanded strange changes to the contract that would save him millions of dinars.
Tabtabai said that based on the information, the contractor demanded that medical equipment worth some KD 7 million be changed with bathrooms - costing much less. He said that the contractor’s request was approved by officials at the Health Ministry within just five days, which raises questions of corruption in the vital project. The lawmaker said he will first send questions to the Health Minister to enquire about the information he has and then if the minister does not take the necessary measures, he will file to grill him.
In the meantime, MP Mohammad Al-Hadiya yesterday criticized a decision by the Civil Service Commission banning Kuwaiti employees who resign or are dismissed from work to apply for employment before the lapse of one year. The lawmaker described the decision as oppressive and against the basic rights of Kuwaitis, and demanded that the Commission scrap the decision.
By B Izzak
