Mumtalakat Bahrain blamed of overspending, flaws

Manama : A government-supported investment company has been come under the scanner of lawmakers with alleged flaws and overspending detected in the company.

As reported earlier, an investigative parliamentary committee was formed to look into the deteriorating financial and administrational conditions of Mumtalakat Holding Company.

The committee initially consisted of MPs Ahmed Qarata, Mohammed Al Ahmad, Mohammed Al Jowder, Mohammed Al Ammadi, Jalal Kadhem, Mohammed Milad, Fatima Al Asfoor and Dr. Majeed Al Asfoor. Later, more
MPs joined the committee, which has 16 members now.

The panel submitted its final report to the council lately and will review it with the remaining MPs on Tuesday, following several postponements in the past weeks.

After 22 meetings held between April 2015 and 2016, the committee came out with several recommendations.

Scrap bonuses

The committee has recommended scrapping annual bonuses awarded to board members for attending board meetings, in the years that the company makes no profits.

The parliamentary panel revealed that each board member receives an annual bonus of BD15,000 (BD1,250 monthly) for attending meetings.

20 companies, no profit

The report showed that 20 companies come under Mumtalakat, including Gulf Air, Bahrain Airport Company and other major companies.

The lawmakers claimed that the company didn’t pump a single fils into the state budget since it was formed in 2006, despite receiving financial support from the government.

In its replies to the committee’s queries, Mumtalakat said its total losses have crossed BD500 million.

The 180-sheet report of the committee and its recommendations would be voted on during the coming Parliament weekly session on Tuesday.

Caption : Mumtalakat CEO Mahmood Hashim Al Kooheji