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ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2014
LOCAL
3
Prizes await top ten racers
Kuwait’s National Heritage Festival competition kicks off
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 20,
(KUNA): Kuwait’s Fifth National
Heritage Festival’s competition
will commence with a women
horse racing competition.
“The competitions will start
with that of an international
women horse racing for 70km to
be followed by men horse racing
for 140km,” Deputy Head of the
Competitions Committee Sheikh
Sabah Fahad Al-Nasser Al-Sabah
told KUNA Saturday.
“The top ten racers will be given
prizes and certificates of appreciation.” He added that the camel,
sheep and goat racings and falcon
beauty and fishing contests would
start later.
Sheikh Sabah Fahad disclosed
that this year’s edition will last for
70 days and will include new
activities. The national festival
attracted this year over 5,600 participants, he said.
Following a tour at festival
avenue, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad
Cultural Heritage Village, Amiri
Diwan Advisor Daifallah Sharar
said that the large Gulf contribution will enrich Kuwait’s national
heritage festival.
He noted that the festival would
be officially inaugurated on
January 9th.
He stated that an artificial lake
was built inside the village on an
area of 13,000 square meters to for
activities to highlight the marine
heritage of Kuwait and the Gulf
countries.
He went on to say that the festival will also have a number of
restaurants providing with traditional meals.
He stressed that the village
has become a cultural landmark
to people of Kuwait and the
GCC thanks to the support of
His Highness the Amir Sheikh
Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah.
Govt officials’ financial disclosures
key to battling ‘corruption’ – Al-Ali
KANCOR to launch ops soon
By Ahmed Al-Naqeeb
Arab Times Staff
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 20:
Kuwait Anti-Corruption
Authority (KANCOR) will
shortly launch operations
from its headquarters in
Al-Shamiya after the necessary executive regulations and by-laws for the
authority are issued.
The Kuwaiti public has been
awaiting the establishment of this
authority since the announcement
of its law in 2012 particularly after
the Transparency International
indicated in one of its reports
about the high level of corruption
in Kuwait compared to other GCC
countries.
Assistant Secretary-General of
KANCOR Salem Ali Al-Ali, in an
interview with Arab Times, disclosed that the delay in issuance
of executive regulations and bylaws for the authority is due to the
sensitivity of the authority’s operations.
“Due to the existence of numerous governmental bodies that
operates on similar fields, Fatwa
and Legislation Department took
its time to produce the executive
regulations and by-laws in order
to ensure that KANCOR’s operations do not overlap with that of
other
governmental
bodies.
However, we believe that the
department has taken way too
long for this process”, added AlAli.
Battling
Photos by Mohamed Khalaf
Photos during the voting process
Tunisian residents cast votes
Large number of Tunisian residents of
Kuwait visited their embassy on Friday
to cast their votes in the second round
of the presidential elections.
The voting process, which was held
at the embassy from 8 am to 6 pm on
Friday, will continue until Sunday.
The Tunisian Ambassador to Kuwait
Nourdeen Al-Rai stressed that his
country is currently going through a
significant period of its modern history,
which will end the political transitional
period, adding that Tunisia went
through four years of challenges and
difficulties in implementing democracy.
He expressed appreciation and gratitude to the State of Kuwait, its leadership
and its people for their support in ensuring that the voting process takes place
under the best possible conditions.
He said financial disclosures by
governmental officials are essential for battling corruption, which
is why it will be the main focus of
KANCOR’s operations.
When asked to define financial
disclosure, Al-Ali explained that
it is the financial standing of an
official in both assets and liabilities irrespective of whether it is
loans, real estate, investments
outside or inside the country and
other factors of financial strength
for the official.
He said, “The most important
part of this process is monitoring
the financial standing of an official during his/her tenure, and
flagging any unexplained financial gain, which then obligates the
authority to investigate this gain
through specialized committees”.
When asked about who are obligated to submit their financial
disclosures, Al-Ali said the spectrum is divided into four categories — the executive authority,
the legislative authority, the judicial authority and others.
Those of the executive authority starting from the Prime
Minister and all the ministers in
his Cabinet to the executive managers in each ministry are obliged
to submit their financial disclosures.
From the legislative authority,
the head of parliaments and all the
elected members are obliged to
submit their financial disclosures.
In addition, everyone affiliated to
the judicial authority will be obligated to submit their financial
disclosures including the head of
the Cassation Court and all the
judges under him irrespective of
whether they are Kuwaiti citizens
or non-Kuwaitis.
Al-Ali further explained that
the broad spectrum also includes
other bodies such as cooperative
societies, the Public Authority for
Youth and Sports, Kuwait
Investment Authority, as well as
companies whose shares of 25
percent and more are held by the
Kuwaiti government. He added
that even the State Audit Bureau
is also obliged to submit financial
disclosures with no exceptions.
Elaborating
the
objectives
behind the financial disclosures
as stipulated by the relevant law,
he said the most important objective is the prevention of financial
corruption followed by the protection of public funds, reinforcing control and stability within
governmental institutions, immunizing public servants from political questioning that might harm
their integrity, and assuring transparency in all governmental institutions.
He stressed that the law is very
clear and comprehensive regard-
The KANCOR headquarters in Al-Salmiya
ing the submission of financial
disclosures. There are three main
instances when the public servants are obliged to submit their
financial disclosures. Those currently in service are obligated to
submit their first disclosures
within a year from the date of
issuance of KANCOR’s executive
regulations and by-laws.
On the other hand, those who
join the public service after the
issuance of the executive regulations and by-laws are obligated to
submit their first disclosures
within 60 days of their employment. An update of the disclosures must be submitted every 3
years within 60 days of the due
date, while the final disclosures
should be submitted when the
public servants decide to leave
their positions or are terminated
but within 90 days from the date
of leaving the positions.
In case any irregularities or
unexplained increments within an
official’s assets and financial
standing
are
identified
by
KANCOR’s inspection committees, a case will be registered
against the official and he/she
will be summoned for questioning
and investigation.
Al-Ali affirmed that the investigative capabilities of the authority will be quite comprehensive
and thorough, and it will be able
to trace the assets of an official
both locally and internationally.
He urged all public servants to
submit their disclosures correctly
and on time in order to avoid
penalties that range from fines to
jail terms depending on the violation.
He assured that all information
included in disclosures will treated
with extreme confidentiality using a
system that the authority has developed with the assistance of international and local consultations for
high-level confidentiality.
Al-Ali affirmed that the relevant
regulations prevent the employees of
KANCOR from disclosing any infor-
Salem Al-Ali
mation obtained from the authority
even after they resign from their
positions. Based on Article 44 of the
law, employees who do not comply
with confidentiality regulations will
be penalized. The authority is very
strict in hiring its staff that will
undergo numerous examinations
ranging from IQ tests to management
capabilities. Most of the authority’s
higher management will be from the
private sector and individuals with
specialized background in law, financial forensic accounting and all relevant fields.
Regarding the authority’s system of
operation, Al-Ali explained that
KANCOR is highly equipped to tackle its purpose whether it is for the
delivery of disclosures, conducting
investigations on financial irregularities or incompliance to confidentiality
regulations.
He revealed that KANCOR will
also grant “whistle-blowing” service
to the public so that any individual
with solid information about financial irregularities of a legally-obligated person will be able to submit
the relevant information to KANCOR, provided it is backed with evidences.
In conclusion, the Assistant
Secretary General of KANCOR
Salem Ali Al-Ali conveyed a message
to the Kuwaiti public, saying, “KANCOR is your weapon against corruption, so use it!”
Donation brings light into people’s lives
Alwaleed Foundation lights up 3 villages in Aseer
RIYADH, Dec 20: Alwaleed Bin
Talal Foundation* donated electric
generators to three villages in Aseer
region in Om Onayg, Altharwah and
Asfal Aljafrah village.
The number of homes benefiting
from Alwaleed Foundation’s donation as part of the “Lighting up
Towns & Villages” project are:
■ 71 houses for the Om Onayg
Village
■ 58 houses for the Altharwah
Village
■ 55 houses for the Asfal Aljafrah
Village
Lighting Up Towns & Villages
has resulted in bringing light into
people’s lives in Saudi Arabia’s most
remote locations — 500 villages,
benefiting over 43,527 households
and over 212,000 people.
The Foundation achieved this by
installing electricity power generators that have a 10-year life span in
thousands of villagers who benefited
from the project.
The national power grid does not
cover these villages. However, they
are listed to be connected with the
grid during the lifetime of the generators. Lighting Up Lives exemplifies one of the basic tenets of
Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation: We
offer help where it is needed desperately.
Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation,
registered in Saudi Arabia, is chaired
by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal
Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud.
News in Brief
Ministry names beneficiaries:
The Ministry of Finance has
announced the weekly statistics for
beneficiaries of the Kuwaiti Family
Fund according to what has been
mentioned by the banks administering this fund, reports Al-Anba daily.
Banking sources said the number of
applicants has reached 20,149, an
increase of 3,000 over the previous week.
The ministry clarified the transactions that were approved until Dec
14 were 17,883, adding the number
of approvals documented by the
Ministry of Justice was 15,618 for a
total value of KD 375,209,308, while
the banks continue to receive the
demands.
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Kuwait signature sought: The
GCC countries are waiting for
Kuwait to put its signature on the
GCC Security Pact to begin its
implementation, reports Al-Qabas
daily quoting sources.
It has also been mentioned that the
critical circumstances seen in the
region are forcing to impose the
highest security levels among the
GCC countries, making the approval
of the GCC Security Pact a necessity
to protect them from external attacks.
This is in addition to the importance of establishing a new coopera-
tive mechanism to face different kind
of terrorism, said the sources.
❑ ❑ ❑
Overcrowding delay flights:
Due to the fast approaching New
Year and Christmas holiday, Kuwait
International Airport has been witness to excess numbers of passengers, as many citizens and expatriates
leave the country to popular destinations like Dubai, Turkey, London and
Cairo to spend the holiday. Besides
the long queues, overcrowding delay
the departure of several flights,
reports Al-Seyassah daily.
❑ ❑ ❑
Bid to promote investment:
Minister of Commerce and Industry
AbdulMohsen Al-Mudej has issued
Executive Regulations of Law No.
116/2013 regarding the promotion of
direct investment in Kuwait, reports
Al-Shahed daily.
The regulation stipulates that the
Commission shall encourage direct
cash equivalent scheduled for collection for services.
It is known as regulatory direct
investment with the participation of
another investor for capital directly
in the investment entity within
Kuwait and the license in accordance
with the provisions of the law.