KUWAIT: A number
of MPs said yesterday they are ready to support privatization of some public
services, but linked it to strong regulation by the government to create jobs
for citizens and prevent misuse. MP Safa Al-Hashem said she has no objection to
any government plan to privatize public services provided there is a strong
government monitoring of the resulting companies in order to avoid misuse,
exploitation of people and hiking the cost of services.

But the lawmaker
said she remains very cautious in supporting privatization, since Kuwait's
experiment in this field has not been encouraging, adding that the performance
of governments has also been below expectations. Privatization has remained a
highly controversial issue in Kuwait because of unsuccessful instances in the
past, most of which did not improve services but resulted in an increase in
prices.

MP Khalil
Al-Saleh said he prefers the privatization of the management of public services
without privatizing the service itself, saying this method improves the service
and leads to the creation of more jobs for Kuwaitis. The lawmaker said
privatization of management will result in a major transformation in the
performance of public services, adding that he opposes full privatization
because previous experiments have not been promising. Opposition MP Riyadh
Al-Adasani earlier this week said he will oppose any plan by the government to
privatize public services because it will lead to adding financial burdens on
citizens.

Meanwhile, MP
Ahmad Al-Fadhl yesterday launched a scathing attack on what he called
"suspicious accounts" operating on social media that have been
targeting Kuwait, recalling the rumors and fabricated news spread by those
accounts when HH the Amir faced some health issues that he recovered from.

Fadhl said most
of these accounts are those of enemies of Kuwait and pointed out that between
70 and 80 percent of them are run by non-Kuwaitis who aim at destabilizing the
country. Fadhl called on the information ministry and the cyber crime
department to crack down on those accounts and block all accounts that
undermine the country and its interests. He said he would support an Amiri
decree to block such accounts.