Salam opens the door to criminal audit… and the ship file is at the forefront

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed, at the beginning of the Cabinet session, the process of forensic auditing in the file of electric power production ships, considering that this step falls within the framework of enhancing transparency and pursuing sources of waste and corruption within state institutions.

Salam pointed out that the government had approved, about a month ago, the necessary accreditation requested by the Ministry of Energy and Water to prepare a book of conditions aimed at assigning a specialized body to conduct a forensic audit of the file of electric power production ships, explaining that this work has been completed and has reached its final stages.

He explained that the conditions booklet consists of two parts, the first is general and can be used to conduct a forensic audit in any ministry, and the second is specific to the file of electric power production ships.

Salam called on ministers who have suspicions of waste in their ministries to make use of the conditions booklet, especially the general part of it, if the need arises to conduct a forensic audit of files related to their ministries.

He considered this step “blessed,” expressing his hope that other ministries would follow this trend, in confirmation of continuing the path of reform, respecting the principle of transparency, and pursuing sites of waste and corruption in departments and ministries.

This position comes in light of continued demands to subject major state files to scrutiny and accountability, especially in the electricity sector, which is considered one of the most costly files on public finances over the past decades. The file of electric power production ships constitutes one of the most prominent files that sparked widespread political and financial controversy, given its cost and the volume of questions related to the mechanisms of binding and contracts and the results that resulted from it, which makes any criminal audit into it a serious test of the state’s ability to move from reform slogans to practical accountability.