Share
This is really an important question among Kuwaitis. Is development really disabled and why? We hear about future projects but do not see anything concrete on the ground. Everything is drowned in politics, crime and social media, but what about the future and outstanding issues? I believe sustainable development is when a society has a plan to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all without exception. Is this not what the United Nations and Western countries call for? Where are we from this plan? Why does development in Kuwait falter?
I think there are unlimited obstacles to the existence of real development in Kuwait, and these obstacles are exacerbated over time and the risk is increasing. We have already begun to address the effects of these problems and neglecting of the real issues that stand in the way of Kuwait's development to restore its leading role in economic fields.
We complain of corruption, but what is the corruption that we really suffer from? Who is the culprit and who stands with it, and how to stop them? Is wasting water and electricity corruption?
We need reform, but how? Because reform requires change of wrong behaviors that may have spread over the years and become a societal tradition that people believe is indispensable. We need more than good wishes because it will not generate economic benefit or produce real economic development that can be felt by citizens and expats.
We complain from routine, bureaucracy and paperwork at a time when there is rarely a human who is free from a mobile phone and electronic communication. But paperwork is still present and required to complete a request at any government body.
We are a hot country, but our neighbors are touristic countries, so why didn't the weather stop them? What do we lack? I think that until now we have not identified the exact obstacles of economic development in Kuwait with a plan to change things. I believe education is the basis of a society's development. The budget of the ministry of education takes up a large part of the state budget. But salaries of employees occupy a large portion of it. How much goes to technology and curriculum change? There is a need to see a change in individual behaviors, inventions and academics. We need to change the curriculum of thinking and studying from kindergarten to university.
Former Education Undersecretary Dr Haitham Al-Athari had formed several committees to develop the curriculum for the next two academic years. They stressed they are trying to put efforts into the development process according to a scientific vision, taking into account many changes, both local and international. I hope the process does not stop in the absence of Athari.
I believe that one of the obstacles to development is that politics has dominated the local scene in Kuwait for a long time. The situation is still without tangible change for ordinary citizens, especially in light of the imbalanced composition of the population, reliance on oil as the sole source of income and the spread of wasta. I believe that it is necessary to pave the way for citizens to contribute to financial portfolios or companies that are established by the state to acquire and manage the assets under clear criteria and conditions.
Former CEO of Zain Dr Saad Al-Barrak recently emphasized the need to restructure economic activity in Kuwait to move mostly to the private sector. He explained that Kuwait's economy is based on the largest product in the state, considering it a problem as the state dominates major economic production sectors, noting that this does not create a culture of small projects.
I think that we in Kuwait have the fundamentals of development in financial and human resources, but we still lack a real desire for change for the better and the belief in sustainable development for all and not for some.
By Muna Al-Fuzai
[email protected]
