MP Mubarak Al-Hajraf

KUWAIT: MP Mubarak Al-Hajraf said that Minister of Oil, Minister of Electricity and Water Essam Al-Marzouq must be grilled at the beginning of the coming parliamentary term, saying that there is evidence that a parliamentary inquiry filed by MP Omar Al-Tabtabae was rephrased to mislead lawmakers on the details of some senior oil officials' alleged profiteering at the expense of public funds.

Hajraf also called for referring all officials who took part in rephrasing the inquiry's answer to investigations, and suspending them from work till the investigations are over. he also called for an immediate meeting for the Supreme Petroleum Council to cancel the 'packages' system of annual bonuses and rewards. In addition, Hajraf warned His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah that nominating any of the said officials as CEO for Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) would only mean that he himself adopts such ill practices.

Meanwhile, MP Rakan Al-Nisf criticized Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah for being late in taking legal action after the conclusion of an investigation in violations reportedly committed by Central Tenders Committee (CTC). Nisf stressed that judicial investigations indicted a number of CTC members with charges of profiteering from their positions, which calls for their immediate suspension.

Private universities

The Private Universities Supreme Council's Secretary General Dr Habib Abul said that 22,071 students have received degrees from private universities since the secretariat was established. He added that 20 private educational institutions have been licensed and that around 4,000 students were granted domestic scholarships. In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Education's Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Facilities and Planning Dr Khaled Al-Rasheed, Abul said that the secretariat had been established according to law number 34/2000 with the aim of achieving higher education goals by linking them to the society's needs through human resource development programs.

By A Saleh