USD 40 Million in Development Funds Diverted to Other Projects
Misuse of funds is common, and its hard to believe anyone will pay any consequences. The ones who pay the price are for the villagers who were supposed to get the new news and pumping stations.
fromNews Yemen: The Yemeni Parliament states it will summon ministers of planning and international cooperation and agriculture and irrigation for questioning over a complaint raised by the committee of agriculture, fisheries and water resources in the Parliament.
The Parliament’s committee recommended the Parliament, in its report it finished by mid of 2005, to call the two ministers for questioning as they restructured the project of Rural Development in Hadhramout, Shabwa, Abyan and Lahj and expended the project’s amounts on other future projects and training courses for local councils violating the project’s goals and the Parliament recommendations when it has approved the project’s grant agreement with IFAD, according to the committee.
The committee said the total cost of the project was USD 45.8 million, $24.7 million funded by IFAD and the rest was funded by the government and beneficiaries. It said the project was to target 23 rural families to develop their living standards through reforming 9300 fadans in Hadhramout, Shabwa, Abyan and Lahj as well as digging out 215 water wells and fixing 227 pumping units and stretching 280-miter-long of plastic pipes.
The committee confirmed the funds had been allocated for other projects of rural roads, drinking water, education, health and sanitation and training staffs of local councils. The main project did get only $1.200, 5% of the funds, said the committee.
