Kuwait’s Public Works Ministry is understood to have temporarily put on hold road contract awards as the government reviews the functions and structure of the Public Authority for Roads and Land Transport (Part), which was created in 2014 to take over the planning, administration and operations of all land-based transport assets in the country.

“We are not sure if the review will lead to the cancellation of the authority’s mandate,” a source familiar with the authority’s operations tells MEED.

According to a local media report, the Parliament’s Budgets and Final Accounts Committee discussed on 2 April Part’s draft budget for the fiscal year 2018-19.

The report said Adnan Abdul Samad, committee chairman and member of parliament, cited complications in the functions of the authority, the Interior Ministry, State Ministry for Services Affairs and Kuwait Municipality “due to the incomplete transfer of duties from these bodies to the authority, which should have been resolved since the enactment of the law [that created Part] in 2014 and submission of amendments in 2015.”

The MP noted Part’s failure to adopt a suitable organisational structure as well as the absence of an effective system to manage the authority’s budget in accordance with the directives of the regulatory authorities. However, he confirmed that they are ready to adopt any legislative requirement to activate Part “especially since some funds included in the budgets of other institutions should have been transferred to the authority.”

Kuwait began transferring the planning, administration and operations of all land-based transportation from MPW and Communications Ministry (MOC) to Part in 2016-17.

The transfer gained momentum last year when the country’ urban metro public-private partnership (PPP) schemewas transferred from the Communications Ministry to Part.