Cabinet to decide date for Municipal Council elections

Municipality prepares plan to deal with encroachment

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 13: Head of Municipal Council Muhalhel Al-Khalid says the date of the elections will be decided by the Cabinet, indicating that resorting to the temporary committee is not expected, reports Al-Rai daily.

He indicated that the decision about the elections will be issued at least one month before the legal term of the current council begins which will be Oct 20.

Al-Khalid revealed that the Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and State Minister for Municipal Affairs Mohammad Al-Jabri addressed the Cabinet in this regard before the Eid Al-Adha holidays, adding that the current Municipal Council held its first session on Oct 21, 2013.

He explained that the minister, in his correspondence to the Cabinet, said Article No. 6 of Law No. 22/2016 concerning Kuwait Municipality stipulates that one term of the Municipal Council lasts for four years starting from the date of the first session. Therefore, the calling for the elections should be done within the 60 days preceding the last day of the four-year term. The Cabinet discussed the letter of Al-Jabri in its last session and will take a final decision in this regard in the coming session after a second discussion.

Meanwhile, a source from Kuwait Municipality said the Director General of Kuwait Municipality Eng Ahmed Al-Manfouhi gave direct instructions to his deputies and to the directors of all municipality branches to identify the areas that are part of state properties and revise the issued licenses and the size of the occupied area for each license.

He explained that Kuwait Municipality has prepared a plan to deal with the illegal occupation of state properties. This plan covers all six governorates, starting with Capital Governorate. Campaigns will be launched with the cooperation of Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Public Authority for Industry. The plan includes giving violators a grace period for rectifying their violations.

Assistant Undersecretary for Construction Projects Sector at the Ministry of Public Works Eng Ghalib Safouq visited the site for the Expropriation and BOT System Department in South Surra, during which he announced that the completion rate of the project reached 50 percent, reports Al-Rai daily.

In a press statement, Safouq disclosed the concrete works will be completed while ceiling work on the eighth floor is ongoing and preparations for the ninth floor are being done. He said the electrical connections on the third floor will be completed soon, whereas the brick works on the fourth and fifth floors as well as the sewage works are in progress.