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in Kuwait have one-third democracy, and with this third Kuwait lives in peace. It is true the power of one-third is not like the power of whole, yet matters are ongoing. Kuwait's opposition is a benign one and harmless. It criticizes and sometimes has a loud voice, but it cares for its homeland. The government has one-third of street power and uses it when needed. The political leadership decided not to use it this time.
The road is full of hope for the leadership, and they are required to bring the development plan back to its path and push it to fulfill the country's needs. The development plan that was approved by the National Assembly at the start of 2010 was supposed to be completed in March 2014, according to the 2035 vision. This plan, which gave Kuwait people optimism, was not completed with transparency and follow up to reduce people's frustration and assure them about their future.
Indicators of the development process ended eight years ago, and despite Kuwait's allocation of large amounts of up to KD 44.5 billion to implement the development plan during the previous years, actual spending on development projects did not go beyond 37 percent of the total allocated funds for more than 6,000 development projects. So, there is a large gap between allocation and actual spending.
Among the most important defects in implementing the development plan is in the shortage of qualified professional cadre, lack of training and true effective qualification of employees in their careers, as well as a lack of accountability and weak serious supervision, multiplicity of documentary cycles, their length and slow procedures. Some reports said the government apparatus lacks flexibility in authorizations as they are limited to the senior leadership, and this reflects on the development plan.
Among the most important obstacles in implementing development projects are the ineffective financial systems to support the development plan, besides delayed approvals. In addition, there is a danger in the "inflation" of the government system, which leads to clashes in administrative authorities between various entities concerned with development.
The biggest obstacle that is difficult to resolve due to interference of wasta is in late and slow contractors and their non-adherence to the planned work, the weak financial and technical capabilities of some of them, and the use of some of government contracts for more benefits that come with delays and changing orders. These are the obstacles pertaining to projects amid continuous adjustments and changes.
The development plan suffered setbacks by some ministers whose abilities did not help go along with the plan, and when they left their posts, they placed themselves with their influence in leadership positions without having the ability to make decisions. So those who replaced them were affected and appeasements prevented the correction of the situation.
The government today has some space, as the people expressed their love for their country in the parliamentary elections, and all results came at the wish of the executive authority, so there is no excuse for not fulfilling the people's ambition of rapid development. All we need is to bring back the sincere for the development plan, put life in it and remove its obstacles - a new opportunity that we hope does not get lost.
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