Like a camel in the desert dying of thirst

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WHEN the pre-Islamic poet Tarfa bin Al-Abd said, “Like a camel in the desert dying of thirst while carrying water on its back,” it seemed as though he was describing Kuwait. It is very difficult to convince any observer about the justifications presented by successive governments and parliaments regarding the country’s condition.

This land has enormous wealth, but has no idea how to invest it for improving its vital sectors, the most important of which are education, infrastructure, and health.

This country cannot get out of its impasse, which has persisted for more than four decades due to differences in views regarding priorities.

In developed countries, investment in education is the basis, but in our country, the curriculum is backward for which patchy remedies that fall short of eradicating the disease are provided.

Due to this, the phenomenon of corruption has become widespread in recent years. Several times it happens through parliamentary demands, which is the worst thing that can happen in any country in the world. This does not happen even in the banana republics.

That is why when we talk about corruption, we must admit that corruption is generated from educational institutions. The two authorities – legislative and executive – are the ones who nurture corruption in the education sector, which produces corrupt people

Anyone who accepts to obtain his degree via fraud will not be trustworthy to the institution in which he works. Whoever betrays himself will betray his country.

One of the reasons for this is that the spending on this sector is based on appearances, and not substance.

From here, we must begin working on establishing a productive and sound educational sector, because if the foundation is sound, the building will be stronger and more capable of development.

It is also necessary to note another vital matter. When a parliamentary committee controls people’s behavior and sets its own controls stemming from its ideological agenda that is not in harmony with the culture of society and exercises dictatorial guardianship, all of this indicates a disregard for the most important requirements of the people.

This also includes forgetting the other social components and the outputs of the parliament, and having successive governments submit to such dictatorial guardianship.

As a result, we witnessed this frightening decline in all fields throughout the 40 years, and failure became entrenched, especially after the liberation, starting from production projects, through health, to public services, infrastructure, entertainment facilities, and other aspects that countries seek to develop in order to have the ability to compete, or at least, provide what the citizens need in order to spend their money at home and not abroad.

The situation in Kuwait has reached such an extent that even laughing has become forbidden, as if we are in Afghanistan of the Taliban.

There is an adage – “Hide your white penny for your black day.” The country has been living in darkness for nearly two decades and it is getting darker day after day.

Whether in terms of the economy, infrastructure, projects, or even social relations, we must monitor the indicators of social violence that are on a rise daily.

When will that day come for the state to open its fund and work to solve its crises, all of which begin with money?

There is no doubt that one of the important reasons is the reliance on visions based on the interests of people. In the National Assembly, the representatives have been seeking for 20 years to change the Kuwaiti culture through strict laws and the generalization of trends based on fraud.

Such trends are like vote-buying and electoral bribery through services, such that many of them are known as “services representatives”. Sometimes, the Cabinet’s focus is on making deals with MPs so that a certain minister does not fall, or the Prime Minister is not grilled even though his programs are not implemented.

Therefore, the solution begins with education, followed by the rule of law over everyone, and then the quality of projects.

Is this too much to ask for Kuwait, or will it continue to die of thirst while carrying plenty of water on its back?

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

This news has been read 1635 times!