Al-Shoura [Archives:2003/693/Press Review]

7 Dec. 2003.
Main headlines:
– American delegation in Yemen to investigate into reality of smuggling weapons from Yemen to Saudi Arabia
– James Rowley: Decentralization, no reality in Yemen yet
– Sportsmen stage sit-in in Lahj
– Journalist decide their stand versus third general conference

Columnist Nasr al-Shara'bi says in his article that in a race with the end of the fiscal year of 2003, many ministries and establishments and other government bodies have diverted their activities to host regional conferences, workshops, seminars and organization of courses. Those activities seem in general as feverish direction towards spending financial surplus and chopping off the remainder of proceeds of participants in foreign activities. Those who have been following up this phenomenon since the beginning of this year have not noticed any improvement or increase in performance of those institutions organizing those activities. But the whole thing appears clearly in the government seeking help of the parliament to approve a financial addition to the general budget under pretext of funding development and services projects.
It is more exciting in this regard that the government markets its policy for privatization of the so-called floundering projects and installations under pretext of modernizing them and uplifting their production, whereas it spends millions of rials on organizing workshops on developing small industries and symposiums and field surveys on financial reforms while there is no opportunity for applying their recommendations in practice.
It is certain, the writer says, that huge sums of money are spent and squandered under justification of organizing those activities that have nor has neither effected reform of administrative machinery nor the volume of national production been increased.
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