every institution, association, and the company has a fiscal year, just as other countries of the world have their own ‘fiscal years’. in kuwait, the fiscal year kicks off on april 1 and ends on march 31 the following year.
the law requires all establishments tied to the state budget (because don’t have separate budgets) to give account for all money allocated to them to carry out projects and others, and if this money or part of it was not used it must be returned to the state treasury.
some parties make it a point not to return the (leftover) money to the ministry of finance and as the fiscal year draws near these parties manipulate the issue in such a way that they ensure the balance reads zero before march 31 of every year by spending the money ‘abruptly’.
a friend, a well-known doctor, told me he was part of a small circle close to a former health minister, who had spent many years in this ministerial post.
he said as the fiscal year drew near a list of remaining money was submitted to the minister which was supposed to be returned to the ministry of finance, but the minister proposed that it was better to buy medical equipment with the remaining money (rather than return it to the ministry of finance) and suggested the name of a specific medical firm. he justified his suggestion by saying this firm had better accessories and the owner of the company was a good person.
the doctor discovered years later that the ‘good’ owner of that medical firm was none other than the minister himself, the most pious human being.
also, a few days ago, the public authority for sports announced that it will celebrate the lifting of the ‘suspension’ on kuwaiti sports by the world sports body (as written in the announcement).
since deciding to celebrate this occasion does not take a month or more, and since the suspension was lifted more than six months ago, what prompted the ‘sports authority’ to celebrate now? does the matter has anything to do with the imminent end of the fiscal year or is it the authority has surplus money and does not know how to dispense it and don’t want to return it to the ministry of finance?
on the other hand, the undersecretary of the ministry of awqaf has issued a circular which obviously aroused questions about the work of senior officials, many of whom have been referred to the public prosecution, in which the undersecretary had formed a committee of five experts including a rapporteur to prepare what he called a ‘peaceful co-existence document’.
the committee members were to be compensated for their efforts because they would be working outside their official working hours. i do not really know how the committee, in which there is only one kuwaiti, can prepare a document on ‘peaceful coexistence’. are we in the midst of yet another unjustified waste of public money as it has happened with the center for moderation which has swallowed millions of dinars of public money? the money was spent right and left – for party expenses and accommodating senior guests in five-star hotels for long periods.
our intention is as spotless as a white robe, but not our experiences with the state ministries because behind the formation of the committee our unease is crystal clear.
the brotherhood forces and others have been active in attacking the decision to form this committee given the partisan and logical considerations. add to this the intellectual backgrounds of the majority of its members who are salafists and only one kuwaiti among them.
it is not clear, and therefore we will assume that the goal of establishing the committee may lie in the desire to benefit its members with the remaining money in one of the assets.
so how can the members accomplish the task of preparing a document for ‘peaceful co-existence in kuwaiti society’? the very word ‘peaceful coexistence’ is dubious, and therefore we will assume that the goal of establishing the committee lies in the desire to distribute the remaining ‘budget money’ among the members of this committee.