KUWAIT CITY, Jan 18: The Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) is facing a potential crisis more disastrous than the Mishref sewage crises as a result of ineligible companies taking on important electricity projects, said a member of parliament on Tuesday.

According to Islamist MP, Adel Al-Sarawwy, the Minister of Electricity and Water, Badr Al-Sharayan, has forwarded a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, on violations taking place in the awarding of tenders for electricity projects.
“There are five companies that were deemed ineligible by MEW technical committees and were still issued tenders. The committees have proved that there was a misuse of public funds and manipulation documents,” he revealed.

Al-Sarawwy said that Al-Sharayan has sent the letter to Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad on Dec 3 even though Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Roudhan Al-Roudhan, is the one responsible for the Tenders Committee. This proves, Al-Sarawwy predicted, that there are “two governments” working simultaneously in Kuwait.

The Islamist MP further added that the tenders have not yet been withdrawn even though the Minister of Electricity and Water has the authority to do so. He requested His Highness the Prime Minister to hold an urgent Cabinet meeting to discuss the potential crises before it gets out of control, warning that he will not idly stand by on the issue. Al-Sarawwy also forwarded questions to Al-Sharayan in that regard to be discussed in the upcoming parliamentary session.

On another note, liberal MP Saleh Al-Mullah has submitted a bill on Tuesday to establish an administrative prosecution and disciplinary court. Al-Mullah said that the current judiciary system is insufficient to prosecute those who have committed administrative and monetary violations within executive authority.

Meanwhile, the Finance and Economic Affairs Committee has completed discussions with the government on 49 articles pertaining to the Tenders Committee bill. The committee will wait two weeks to finalize the bill after consulting the World Bank, which was part of the initial discussions, to ensure transparency.