Kuwait dismissed the head of the Public Authority for Roads & Land Transport (Part) Ahmed al-Hassan on 6 November in the wake of the widespread flooding that gripped the country following heavy rainfall on 5 and 6 November.

According to a Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) statement, deputy prime minister Anas al-Saleh issued a decree dismissing Part’s director general.

“The order came at the behest of the Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Hossam al-Roumi,” Kuna said.

It is understood Kuwait received one-third of its average annual rainfall between 5 and 6 November, which resulted in flooded streets, homes and commercial buildings, and damage to cars and property.

Earlier this year, Kuwait’s Ministry of Public Works (MPW) was understood to have temporarily put on hold road contract awards as the government undertook a review of the functions and structure of 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 told MEED in April.

Parliament’s Budgets & Final Accounts Committee is understood to have discussed on 2 April Part’s draft budget for the fiscal year 2018-19.

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 added 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 the MPW and Communications Ministry to Part in 2016-17.

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