KUWAIT CITY, July 6: There are allegations about some officials at the Ministry of Electricity and Water benefiting from deals, and supporting a particular company that collaborated with a bogus company to win a huge project involving 42 distillers, reports Al-Shahid daily.
A document has proven the ministry pre-qualified the company under several bogus names for the same contract, while the ministry suspended the company from all tenders after some officials discovered the company had used five different names to bid for the contract. Later, officials included the company in the bidding with its real name.
The company, which has been listed on Kuwait stock market, mounted pressure on the ministry officials to inaugurate the contract, while it presented the third cheapest quote.
According to the document, the officials procrastinated and frustrated the decision the tenders committee issued, as of August 20, 2009 until now, just to ensure the bogus company secures the contract in which it changed names five times, in spite of the 12.5 million dinars difference in the cheapest bid it made.
Meanwhile, the issue led to exchange of hot words between the officials, and Chairperson of the Central Tenders Committee (CTC) Ahmad Al-Kulaib, in his effort to ascertain if the officials were trying to assist the company and put undue burden on public funds.
The Sub-technical Committee at the Higher Power Conservation Committee will soon forward a report on specifications for the low-power consumption bulbs to the Ministry of Electricity and Water, reports Al-Seyassah daily.
A source disclosed that the ministry is discussing with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on the mode of importation and distributing the bulbs to the government departments. He said this will reduce the level of power consumption and waste with the use of ordinary bulbs.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Electricity and Water, Dr Bader Al-Shurai’an, on Monday presided over a meeting of the Power Conservation Implementation Committee. In attendance were undersecretary of the ministry, Engineer Ahmad Al-Jassar and other members of the committee, assistant undersecretaries and representatives of relevant ministries and establishments.
Officials of the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) displayed an audiovisual presentation of steps adopted by the institution to conserve power within its premises, while members of the committee also presented similar reports about their respective institutions and departments. “The minister expressed hope that efforts will increase with time to ensure the national wealth is conserved,” sources revealed.