The Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Planning, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ali Tamim, headed a meeting of the Diwani Affairs Committee (23034), in charge of handling lagging projects, and settled it.
The committee includes the President of the Commission of Integrity, Judge Mr. Haidar Hanoun, and the President of the Board of Supreme Audit, Mr. Rafel Yassin Khudair, and the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning for Technical Affairs, Dr. Maher Hammad Johan.
During the meeting, they reviewed the ongoing and languishing projects within the investment program for ministries and entities not associated with a ministry, and the regional development program, which is concerned with local governments in the governorates.
The committee discussed the reasons for the delay, the costs of the delayed projects, and the amounts disbursed, and financial obligations remaining to fulfill them, and the size of the annual losses that the national economy is exposed to as a result of the suspension of these projects and the collapse they are exposed to, and the cost of its implementation increases.
The Minister affirmed that this committee is of great importance due to its associated tasks, in light of the government’s directives, considering this year to be the year of completion of projects, pointing out that priority will be given to hospitals, schools, sewage and water projects. Stressing that the committee will do its utmost to address the problems that caused the suspension and delay of projects and resolve them as soon as possible, to resume work, pointing out that the Ministry of Planning, over the past months, worked on following up all the lagging projects and diagnosed the reasons for the lagging, and developed a road map to address it. Indicating that the number of these projects decreased to (1171) projects after the treatments taken by the Ministry during more than (52) meetings with the beneficiaries.