Real estate firm investments discussed

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 28: The parliamentary Public Funds Protection Committee discussed Tuesday the report of the State Audit Bureau (SAB) on the investments of Wafra Real Estate Company — a subsidiary of the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS). Present at the meeting were representatives of the company, PIFSS and SAB. Committee Chairman MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji disclosed that the panel voiced objection to the plan of the company to establish a new subsidiary under the pretext of developing and expanding the investment. He argued this can be done through judicious management of the investment, instead of establishing a new company. Obviously, the real reason behind the plan is to escape from the monitoring of SAB. The company is managing almost KD1 billion investment for PIFSS and this is part of the properties of retirees.

The establishment of a new company will negatively affect the money of retirees. The committee and SAB have the same opinion in this regard, he asserted.

Meanwhile, MP Abdullah Al-Mudaf forwarded queries to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Nazaha Enhancement Abdullah Al-Roumi about the individuals that Fuad Salhi, who has been convicted of money laundering, mentioned in his confession. The lawmaker asked if all of these individuals have been investigated or not, and reasons for not investigating them in case the answer is ‘no’.

MP Osama Al-Menawer asked Minister of Oil and Higher Education Dr Muhammad Al-Fares about the date of opening the Department of Communication Disorder Sciences at the College of Life Sciences in Kuwait University. He demanded for copies of the feasibility study, decision on opening the department and its curricula. He wants to know the available job opportunities for the graduates of the department, number of graduates since its establishment, number of current students, and number of assistant lecturers who have been granted overseas scholarship, number of those who returned home and rejoined the academic staff. He also demanded for confirmation regarding the approval of the Scientific Committee to establish the Department of Speech and Hearing Defects Treatment at the Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences. He wants to know the similarities between this department and the Communication Disorder Sciences Department at the College of Life Sciences, if any.

On the other hand, MP Yousef Al-Ghareeb submitted a proposal to include Kuwaiti graduates from private universities to the beneficiaries of the master’s degree scholarship program. He explained the aim is to help these citizens, considering they usually face a lot of difficulties in their pursuit for higher studies.By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff