KUWAIT CITY, Feb 28: Confirming the previously published report about corruption of appointments in the Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA), a number of managers at KPA called for an end to administrative tampering, abuses and violation of job regulations, stressing that some influential people interfere to appoint those who are least qualified at the expense of national cadres, reports Al-Qabas daily. According to informed sources, these managers submitted a letter requesting to meet His Highness the Prime Minister to present their demands and complaints. They said the regulations are not applied equally on everyone, and accountability is absent. There are decisions of appointment, transfer and delegation that took place after the resignation of the government despite the circular of the Civil Service Commission.

There also has been administrative tampering, nepotism, and the continuous imbalance in this vital facility. They stressed the need to stop tampering because of the deviation that the maritime facility is going through until it has become managed according to impulses, political satisfactions, and personal interests at the expense of the public interest. The managers expressed their dissatisfaction with the transfer of some employees to the ports, and the interference of nepotism and favoritism by some MPs and ministers at the expense of national competencies.

The managers said in the petition, “The serious defect that KPA is witnessing is represented in the failure to implement the laws and regulations governing the functional relationship of KPA’s employees in the correct and proper manner, and the accompanying waste of the corporation’s public funds.” They also indicated that the application of laws and regulations takes place according to impulses, political satisfactions, and personal interests at the expense of the public interest of this facility during this dangerous stage for a vital and important institution, which is considered the lifeblood of the national economy.

They indicated that many national cadres and competencies considered to be the backbone of the institution were laid off. Job allowances and benefits were not approved in implementation of the laws and regulations governing personnel affairs equally on everyone, and in application of the principle of transparency, functional integrity and functional behavior, in order to protect and preserve public money. They called for a firm stance to put an end to these abuses.