The chairman of the Kuwait Graduates Society, Adil Al-Fauzan, says the government, however, is not keen on implementing the e-government programme as it will lose its control of these institutions. He says the ‘implementation of the programme will eliminate bureaucracy and ‘wasta’ of MPs, but the government wants to use ‘wasta’ as a bargaining tool to get the MPs support for various activities. ‘If the programme is implemented, MPs won’t need to approach ministers and consequently the government will lose their support,’ he added. Businessman Yousef Al-Rifai says e-government has been successfully implemented in Dubai but he doubts whether it will be implemented in Kuwait because preliminary steps require regulatory bodies and its implementation will not be easy.
‘Five y ears ago we heard the Interior Ministry was going to implement the electronic system and provide immigration forms and visas through the Internet but unfortunately until today this has not been achieved,’ Al-Rifai added. Talking of problems he said: ‘For example, for five days I ran around to secure a visit visa for a Chinese businesswoman but to no avail. She is not from Iraq or from any other country which does not have good relations with Kuwait.
Finally I had to approach an MP to get her visa approved.’ Kuwait Workers Union Chairman and writer Thabit Al-Haroun says ‘we have been talking of e-government for the past year but nothing concrete has been done so far and we continue to face red tape in the government. He added the practice of ‘wasta’ is deeprooted in Kuwaiti society and its eradication will require a lot of effort.
According to a Professor of Accountancy at Kuwait University, Dr Jassem Al-Mudhaf, ‘e-government will come, whether we approve of it or not, because the international market will stay away from states which do not use this facility.’ He said the implementation of e-government requires elimination of the threat of hackers and illegal use of the system. He added ‘if an ordinary person can hack into banks and transfer money illegally, what about an expert who will have access to computers at the ministries and other departments.
‘There is no sense in saying if the programme is implemented the government will lose its hold on legislative authorities especially since the new government has people who think beyond tribal or partison politics,’ he said. The programme should work for the benefit of the country and the people of Kuwait,’ he concluded.
Quelle: Arab Times, 24.08.2003
