a few days ago, al-seyassah daily published on its front page the statement of minister of public works and state minister for housing jenan bushehri. she said dar al dowailah engineering consultants and construction managers did not implement the terms of the contract for the construction of sabah al-ahmad city, although 10 years have passed since the completion of the project. it was also reported that the state audit bureau recorded several observations on dar and found unsecured structural clauses in its plans.
we leave the news above for those who are interested and those who have not read the news published by al-seyassah at the time.
since we are talking about honorable minister jenan boushehri, it is important to clarify something that may not be known to many. after the big and justified uproar following the great devastation which hit various internal streets and expressways due to the heavy rainfall at the end of october last year and the material losses incurred by everyone, the ministry of public works immediately scraped the upper layer of the completely destroyed roads in preparation for re-paving these roads.
however, the minister stopped the procedure and asked the offi - cials to review the overall process of making materials used in paving roads, the paving process itself, those who do the work, results of laboratory tests on road materials and efficiency of construction companies. i think she was shocked by the magnitude of the devastation in all aspects.
earlier, i mentioned in more than one article that the road problem is moral in nature before being technical. it is not only the result of the acts of a corrupt contractor or bad laboratory, but a series of acts and chains.
for example, sand which is used as filler for the rest of the paving materials is usually washed (if it is indeed washed) before being used, but not left to dry which is necessary. it was also found that the main bitumen in the paving process remarkably decreased in quality or viscosity, compared to 10 or 20 years ago. moreover, the insistence of the general traffic department to close newly asphalted roads for six hours, instead of 12, reduced the quality.
in addition, the governmental center for testing, laboratories and quality control, which is specialized in inspection and testing of materials used in construction and road works, does not function as required despite transferring to a modern building less than a year ago. as far as i know, no one has ever heard its opinion on roads which have been badly damaged. thus, it bears part of the responsibility for the damage. it was also found that most road contractors are not qualified, so many of them will be excluded from future contracts.
this shows that all of us must be patient and give minister bushehri enough time to address these problems before paving even a single meter of the road to ensure that roads are not destroyed during the first rainstorm which is expected to happen in april.
if the minister succeeds, she will enter history and her position will be like that of the late minister hamoud al-nisf.
note: minister bushehri submitted a complaint to the public prosecution to investigate mp almoweizri’s claim that she falsified information and facts in her response to a parliamentary question.
this is an unprecedented initiative in the political history of kuwait and a smart step. she did not respond to the mp and accused him of not mentioning the truth, as she left it for the prosecution to say so. then, she has the right to demand for rehabilitation, and perhaps, compensation.