Al-Sahwa [Archives:2005/876/Press Review]
8 Sep. 2005
As-Sahwah weekly, .
Main headlines
– GPC government tampers with more than YR451 billion
– Islah head of parliamentary bloc demands relieving the government
– International Transparency Organization discloses duality of authority in dealing with opposition
– Speaker Al-Ahmar: The democratic experiment not enough, needs more development
– Governor of Jaashin attacks popular activity of Islah
– MPs denounce exception of the army from wages strategy
– More than 4 million cases of identicalness in the election register
– Tribal reconciliation ending more than eight-year dispute
– JMP condemns Pakistan's diplomatic relation with Israel
– Economists warn, the government makes unemployment, poverty and depression
Columnist Zaid al-Shami says in his article the prices of oil have this year witnessed big rise from which oil producing countries have benefited, but the situation reflected badly on our people. Because of this increase the government here has increased prices by 100% under pretext of fighting smuggling. And because he state's revenues increased, that has become a crisis for the government. It presented a request to the parliament, seeking its approval to consider that increase to be counted as revenue appropriated in the state budget.
The government has also announced reduction in the investment program by half. More than 450 billion riyals is the value of the increase this year and the government is bewildered how to get rid of it through book accounts and imaginary expenditures.
We are suffering from a problem of shortage in electric energy that does not cover but 30% of the population need and power cuts reaches to eight hours in some governorates. We are also suffering from water shortages that do not meet the needs of 70% of the people.
Official reports indicate deterioration in services of health, education and social care and increase in rates of unemployment. Why there are not revenues for finding solutions to these problems, instead of spending the riches on illusionary expenditures, especially in treating the government's mistakes from revenues realised from the increase in oil prices?
In the neighbouring states the increase of oil prices has been channelled to improve the living standard of the citizen, increasing salaries of employees and finishing gigantic projects and exempting the citizen from water and electricity bills as well as helping them build their own investment projects.
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