‘Multiple solutions to housing issue available despite crazy land rates’
“THE housing issue may appear to be an intractable problem if we look at the crazy rise in real estate prices in recent years to the extent that a majority of middle-income and limited-income people can no longer think of owning a lifetime home except by waiting in queue to acquire a house,” columnist Prof. Faisal Al-Sharifi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“The successive governments have dealt with the housing issue with the same perspective that it started with in the post-valuation era and did not consider it as one of the elements of social stability until after the aggravation of the crisis which caused the suffocation of model internal residential areas, and led to their transformation into more like investment areas.
“This policy contributed and instilled fear in the hearts of Kuwaiti families which made obtaining a home a crucial issue as the construction of housing units exceeded the actual need of families consisting of father, mother, children and grandchildren as well.
“The solutions are many and multiple and you only need to look at other paths that many countries have preceded us in resolving the housing issue, including, for example, but not limited to liberating more geographical areas and handing them over to the real estate developers, provided that it is not a duplicate of the Khairan Pearl project which exceeded the goal of its establishment.
“Therefore, the goal of the real estate developer must be to provide affordable lands and houses at competitive prices, so that it serves a large segment of small families and not allowing expanding the construction in the future.
“This is in addition to preventing vertical construction in new and demolished plots, and regulating the building list to prevent speculators from entering and transforming homes into investment projects, similar to what happened to most residential areas.
“Add to this the imposition of annual fees on vacant plots of land against those who own more than 5,000 square meters; paying the real value plus 20% for electricity and water bills for those who own more than two residential properties, provided that their area does not exceed two thousand square meters; monitoring and preventing traders from manipulating the value of construction materials by imposing heavy fines on violators.
“This can be attained by providing skilled and licensed expatriate technical workers in the field of building and construction by opening the way for national companies that are subject to monitoring by the concerned authorities and have bank guarantees to preserve the rights of citizens.
“Dealing with the real estate mortgage with caution so that banks are not allowed to exploit legal loopholes, as happened with consumer loans that destroyed the lives of many citizens after the loan interests exceeded the principal amount in light of the silence and negligence of the Central Bank.
“Holding auctions on state-owned lands provided to only citizens who have not previously obtained from the Public Authority for Housing Welfare and those who do not have a real estate registry are allowed to enter the auction.
“Establishing a national, state-owned company tasked with building residential homes to be rented out to citizens at reasonable prices for people with limited and medium incomes.
“Lastly, preventing the sale of homes and residential plots a citizen obtains from the Public Authority for Housing Welfare until at least for ten years.”
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“Difference of opinion among people is natural and it is healthy especially if it is in the interest of a group or society, and therefore it should not spoil amity. The difference of opinion of some with the Speaker of the Parliament in some matters should not make them forget his achievements under the dome of Parliament,” columnist Dr Issal Al-Omairi wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“Some want Marzouq Al-Ghanim to look uninterested in providing the services required of him as a member and Speaker of the National Assembly through attack and criticism, but when we examine his performance more under the dome of Parliament, we see these multiple achievements realized in the past periods, we are actually verifying that this man is putting in the best performance in carrying out his patriotic duty under the dome of Parliament.
“Al-Ghanim has played a remarkable role in putting forward peaceful initiatives, the last of which was at the end of the parliamentary session -- an initiative of great political value, in order to achieve the interests of the voters who chose their representatives.
“Also, the last session of the National Assembly -- which was adjourned early -- indicates that the decision taken by the Speaker of the National Assembly was correct and is similar to the medicine that is suitable for this kind of events, which took place under the dome of Parliament. So, the decision to adjourn the session was the correct one to close the door on sedition and developments with undesirable consequences.
“We may disagree or agree with Marzouq Al-Ghanim, but we fully agree with him when we see his efforts and actions which led to the historic agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“Yes, we may disagree with Marzouq Al-Ghanim on some issues, but we are proud of him when we talk about his role during the cause of the Arab nation -- the Palestinian cause -- when he exposed on more than one occasion the practices of the Zionist enemy in Palestine and its people, the last of which happened during the IPU meeting that was held in Europe.”
“If Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) is serious about its intention to reward any citizen who seeks to uncover thefts by giving him part of the recovered amount which will be returned to the State treasury ... If it is really serious, then it should look for those who exposed the tanker scandal, insurance thefts and foreign investments,” columnist Dr Naji Saoud Al-Zaid wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“It should reward the heirs of Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad -- may God have mercy on him -- by giving them the right to expose the misappropriation of public money. The Bangladeshi, who exposed bribery in the ‘Ministry of Interior’, should also be rewarded!
“There are numerous and grave scandals regarding public money including theft. There have been anomalies such as the million-dollar deposits of some lawmakers. Where did the money come from? What is the purpose of obtaining such amount?!
“This is in addition to the Panama deposits scandal in which billions of dollars were deposited ‘offshore’. The question is the same: How did they obtain these billions?!”
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“Kuwait Municipality recently made some amendments to a decision regarding the establishment of parking shades in residential areas and on sidewalks, in terms of space area, the distance from the street, and so on”, columnist Iqbal Al-Ahmad wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“These amendments included one-time payment of very low fees of KD 1 per square meter for housing areas and KD 2 per square meter for commercial and investment areas. However, I say it with sadness that none of these amendments or the decisions included some basic demands that would contribute to preserving the environment and increasing the green space in Kuwait.
“We all know that Kuwait suffers from an increase in temperature year after year, as indicated by climate and weather specialists. We have experienced a noticeable rise in heat in Kuwait over the past few days with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees, which is the highest temperature recorded in the world.
“Knowledge in environment culture highlights that afforestation, extension of green spaces and encouragement of agriculture is what mainly contributes to relieving the heat. Also, afforestation helps in the cohesion of the soil, moistening of the atmosphere, and reduction of the heat and dust. There is nothing more beautiful than the natural green color when it surrounds us.
“However, it seems that none of the municipality geniuses have considered or thought about this. It would have been more useful, like the developed countries, which know how to preserve and support the environment.
“The first item in this decision should have been that an applicant for a car shade must pledge to plant trees in order to provide the necessary shade next to the parking shade after a while.
“He must pledge to remove the car shed within a year or two after the trees provide the necessary shade. This of course needs follow-up from the concerned authority. You can imagine the number of umbrellas that will extend on the sidewalks in their dry, lacking beauty, especially the cheap ones made of chenko and other materials that quickly break and deform after a few years of construction.
“Not to mention some umbrellas are supplied with fabrics that wear out quickly, as many will look for cheap umbrellas according to their ability.
“I hope with all my heart that this proposal will find a sympathetic ear from the stakeholders and the specialists today before tomorrow.”