Local newspapers reported last week that the government is willing to listen to citizens’ proposals to support the country’s development plans. But this simple news created a fuss. It occupied headlines and social media between those who tried to analyze the issue of citizen proposals and others who found this move interesting, as the government does not need suggestions or ideas because it knows all of our problems.
The local press published reports that the Cabinet has formed a joint team comprising of a number of government agencies and entrepreneurs to receive initiatives and ideas supporting development plans in the country. The government will also welcome proposals from citizens. The team should present its report every six months to the Council of Ministers, including the total initiatives that were submitted and the number of proposals accepted and denied.
I think the idea is beautiful, but as usual, the fear of a lack of implementation is justified. Moreover, which proposals will be accepted and which will be rejected? Can the proposer object to the team’s opinion? Who will review initiatives and what are their commercial and scientific backgrounds to consider the initiatives and make decisions?
For example, the reports said that there is a proposal calling for readying a comprehensive employee who is able to complete all transactions in a single review session, and that such a comprehensive employee could be an official or an ordinary employee.
I think this is known as the modern management system. So a manager, for example, should not have a large staff of secretaries to answer the phone, print a letter, make an appointment or respond to inquiries because he can do this all by himself or at least with one assistant and not an army of staff.
But this means that the employee should have strong administrative efficiency and not be appointed by wasta or be ignorant about the basic principles of the use of computers. It is expected that such an employee will be able to complete the transactions of people with record speed!
I believe many people and not only Kuwaitis want an initiative aimed at ending paper transactions and going electronic to overcome bureaucratic obstacles and red tape. We are also heading towards the rainy season in few months’ time, and people have the right to be worried about what is in store for them. Also, are schools really ready to receive students in this heat? There are many questions and concerns that we should not have in the first place in a country like Kuwait. This is a good initiative, but we need action. The question remains – how much time do we need to become a productive and satisfied society?
By Muna Al-Fuzai
muna@kuwaittimes.net
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