Jeddah, December 26: The imam of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, Sheikh Hussein Al-Asheikh, urged authorities on Friday to set up strict monitoring authorities to prevent corruption and malpractice by government officials and businessmen involved in public projects.
“It is the duty of the monitoring authority to exert utmost effort to check every small and large matter and hold officials in charge of projects responsible if there were any faults or corruption,” he said while delivering the Friday sermon.
He said private companies taking up public projects should carry out their work properly without delay and fraud.
The imam’s statement came after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah unveiled the Kingdom’s SR540 billion national budget for 2010.
King Abdullah has instructed ministers to carry out all projects, which has been allocated in the budget, as quickly as possible. He said the government would not tolerate any negligence.
The imam also cautioned against government officials taking bribes. “The main reason for destruction and corruption is bribery and the leniency in confronting this malicious crime,” he pointed out.
He also urged ministers and other government officials to uphold the trust bestowed upon them without failure.
The Madinah imam quoted a number of Qur’anic verses to reaffirm his statement.
——-Agencies