MP queries on allocation of 5% co-ops’ profits to support govt

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KUWAIT CITY, Sept 27: MP Fayez Al-Jomhour submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister of Social Affairs, Family and Childhood Affairs Sheikh Fares Al-Sabah about the legal basis upon which the decision was issued to allocate five percent of the profits of cooperative societies to support the government. He revealed that the decision was issued in 2018 by the Court of Appeals to nullify a previous similar decision, when the court highlighted the fact that the funds of cooperative societies are considered private property of the shareholders and cooperative societies that are subject to the government’s administrative oversight. MP Al-Jomhour said he wondered why the subsequent ministers of Social Affairs continued to ignore the aforementioned court decision. He asked about the purpose of the five-percent cut, and if it was meant for developing projects. MP Al-Jomhour asked what benefit the shareholders get from the allocation of the five-percent profits of cooperative societies to support the government.

Supporting
He wanted to know the amount of money allocated for supporting the governments in the last three years, and the share from each governorate. Meanwhile, MP Mubarak Al-Tasha submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister of Finance Fahad Al-Jarallah regarding the recent hacking incident that targeted the systems at the Ministry of Finance. He asked for a detailed report on the incident, including the departments that were affected by the cyber attack, and whether it was committed by a single computer or through botnets.

MP Al-Tasha wanted to know the documents that were infiltrated, their importance and when the most recent update of the systems was carried out. He asked if the users’ behavior through SIEM was analysed, and if the process helped in protecting against the cyber attack. MP Al-Tasha highlighted that computer experts recommend regular maintenance of the servers and systems to avoid such hacking attacks through loopholes in the old systems. He wanted to know when the last maintenance was carried out, and which servers were used.

Contract
MP Al-Tasha said the Ministry of Finance had mentioned in the statement it issued on September 25 that it had signed a contract with an international company that is specialized in dealing with cyber attacks, and that the company is reliable and provides such services to many governments and companies. The lawmaker wanted to know the name of that company, the procedures taken to sign the contract, the amount of the contract, and a copy of the contract. Regarding the announcement made by the ministry that a committee was formed to investigate the incident, MP Al-Tasha asked if the committee consists only of employees of the Ministry of Finance or if investigation is being carried out with the cooperation of National Center for Cyber Security. He wanted to know the names, qualifications and experiences of the committee members.

MP Al-Tasha said some information claimed that the reason behind the cyber attack was the termination of a number of expatriate consultants. He asked if this information is true and if any of the expatriate consultants involved in the issue has been caught. The lawmaker cited some newspapers that published that the hacker offered to send the stolen data back to the Ministry of Finance for an amount of 15 bitcoin or $400,000, and gave the ministry a grace period of seven days to respond, else he will put the data up for sale. MP Al-Tasha asked if this information is true, and the actions taken by the ministry in this regard.

Investigation
In another development, MP Jarrah Al-Fawzan called upon Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research Adel Al-Manee to launch an investigation on the lack of readiness of schools to receive students for the new academic year. He stressed the need to figure out the reasons behind this problem and to hold accountable those who are responsible for it.

The lawmaker revealed that there are footages being circulated showing classrooms in some schools without chairs and tables and with the students sitting on the floor, adding that there are other footages showing broken chairs and tables, all of which indicate that schools were not prepared well for receiving the students. Furthermore, the National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun sent a cable of condolences to Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Mohamed Al- Halbousi over the victims of the fire that broke out in a wedding hall in Nineveh located in the North of Iraq. He asked Allah Almighty to show mercy to the victims and he wished speedy recovery for the injured.

Proposal
In addition, MP Abdulwahab Al- Essa revealed that he will submit a proposal along with his colleague MP Abdulaziz Al-Saqaabi to adopt new procedures for appointing technical workers in the National Center for Cyber Security. He said the applicants will be asked to target, for example, the electronic system of the National Assembly or any other ministry, adding that the winners will be appointed after they prove their efficiency in dealing with cyber hackers.
MP Al-Essa explained that this procedure is followed in Saudi Arabia and many other countries, as adopting the traditional appointment regulations will not do anymore. Some efficient individuals do not meet the regulations and many of them may not hold high qualifications. The lawmaker highlighted the recent lawsuit filed against a Kuwaiti citizen who was accused of hacking the Pentagon. He was quick to clarify that he is not in support of hacking crimes but he believes those efficient individuals should be exploited for the right purposes instead of leaving them to become criminals.
By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff

This news has been read 1760 times!