PROPHET Muhammad (PBUH) said, “Every son of Adam commits mistakes, but the best among those who commit mistakes are those who repent”.
From the time of liberation until today, the majority of our officials have committed mistakes. A few of them realized that, and they acknowledged their mistakes and worked to correct them, but others continued with their mistakes. Such persistence could either be due to hesitation or ulterior motives. Things were made worse by the fact that the deep state worked to capitalize their gains through these mistakes. All of this left a negative impact on the country and the people.
Unfortunately, everyone commits mistakes. Officials did not realize that inaction leads to corruption, and they did not act according to the words of the Messiah Jesus (PBUH) who said, “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”. In this regard, a mistake can be forgiven by correcting it and not by persisting on it. This is due to the fact that “countries are built neither by obstinacy nor by claiming incorrect actions as achievements.”
Kuwait, for 34 years, has been living in disarray that was affecting even the quality of life of citizens. The matter has led to resentment on everyone, especially when the citizens see that the Gulf countries, and some regional countries, have been able to surpass their country in the field of development and modernization, and enhance opportunities for personal initiative by working on the basis of competence before loyalty and honesty.
That is why its train is moving very rapidly towards the future, while Kuwait appears to be on a standstill as if time stopped in the mid-seventies, because it simply relied on the rule - “This is our son, take his hand.”
As a result, the country has recorded backwardness in all fields including health as well as education, which has declined in the past three decades to levels unworthy of a country like Kuwait.
This is in contrast to what the Gulf states have achieved in the past years of openness and capitalizing on all energies, which raised their national competence because they relied on providing opportunities, not squandering them as is the case with us. Here everyday there is a wrong decision or a law that has been detailed for the sake of certain people.
Those countries worked to create an industrial infrastructure that today is competing with the quality of developed countries. They have also turned the desert into gardens either for food sufficiency, or to reduce temperatures. Although Kuwait, according to the principle of proportionality, is wealthier than them, it still revolves in a vicious circle as if it has been afflicted by impotence of ideas and visions.
We are still floundering while the Gulf countries have worked to benefit from privatization in all fields, starting with electricity and ending with public utilities. They have a good educational structure, because they opened the way for the privatization of universities and schools, as well as centers and hospitals, and attracted major international institutions.
While these countries managed to solve the housing problem a long time ago, the Kuwaiti citizens are currently obsessed with obtaining their dream house.
As for loans, they are a major scourge in Kuwait, while the Gulf citizens in other countries no longer have any concern in this regard.
Due to all of this, a vision is necessary, even if there are some mistakes in it. The one who does not work does not make mistakes, and the outcome is what matters, instead of hesitating and taking the opinions of advisors who work for their personal interests and not for the sake of the homeland and its people.
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
