Criticism over transfer of four ‘managers’ of DGCA

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‘Move aims to achieve personal interests’

KUWAIT CITY, Feb 27: The series of breaking the law and bypassing the regulations of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) continues in order to benefit and achieve personal interests at the expense of the public interest, reports Al-Qabas daily. According to reliable sources in the administration, decisions were issued to transfer and assign four managers in different departments without legal and administrative justifications. These decisions were issued under the pretext of the need to work on those departments, when in reality, it happened due to mediation of influential people. The decisions included deputizing and transferring the four managers, and ignoring the grievances of their colleagues, who asserted that those managers are worthy, deservng and most efficient.

Decisions
These decisions were issued on January 11, 2023, after which a circular was issued on January 22 to urge all sectors and departments – in the event that vacancies are available in supervisory positions – to officially announce the vacancy and the conditions for filling it, form an internal committee by the head of the sector to conduct interviews, submit an approved report to the administrative sector by the director of the department and the head of the sector on the results of the interviews, select the appropriate employee for any position, and finally ensure all the requirements and conditions of CSC are fulfilled for occupying supervisory positions.

The sources stressed that none of these controls stipulated in the circular were achieved in the transfer and assignment of the four employees, indicating that this sparked a wave of discontent among the workers of DGCA who called for an extensive investigation into these decisions and other administrative tampering and transgression of regulations. The sources said the candidates met the legal conditions and the decisions of CSC, but the decisions included only four directors, adding that the letters of grievance submitted by a number of employees and heads of departments were ignored. The sources said the issued circular stipulated that there would be no promotions without an official announcement.

In this regard, they asked, “Why was this announcement not made before the ministerial decisions were issued to assign a number of employees? What are the reasons that led these employees to overlook the requirements for supervisory positions to be delegated? Why was the vacant supervisory position not announced before the decisions were issued?” According to the memorandum, DGCA invoked the process of modernizing and developing supervisory positions, as required by the work interest, before the ministerial decisions were taken, by identifying four employees in particular to assign them and transfer them to new job positions.

Warnings
The sources renewed their warning against the transformation of DGCA and other state agencies into a gateway for political concessions. They explained that, despite the high density of employees, the nomination of about 416 citizens was approved. This plunged DGCA into a new spiral, which was the delay in completing the appointment procedures due to the lack of financial allocation for them. This will lead the new employees to wait until the next fiscal year for grades to be provided.

Meanwhile, informed sources have warned that the persistence of loopholes in the civil service regulations harms the public interest, and opens the way for manipulation, profiteering, and the interference of nepotism in appointments and promotions, in a way that violates the requirements of the current stage that requires concerted efforts to reform the situation and accelerate development projects. They indicated that the necessity requires urgent action to hold those responsible for breaking laws and regulations accountable, and to put in place strict controls to prevent a recurrence of the tampering that occurs in some state agencies. The sources said nepotism oppresses national competencies, and puts the least in practical and administrative competence at the forefront, which affects the distinguished and competent employees by their marginalization and disempowerment.

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