The next govt disaster
The Council of Ministers issued a decision prohibiting the renewal or extension of contracts for the exploitation of plots designated for storage, which are in the thousands and can accommodate more than 90% of the market’s need for storage spaces, as the private sector has very little.
The chronic shortage of storage spaces has led to an increase in rents, and many have been forced to rent the basements of their buildings and homes to companies, in clear violation of the laws.
The recent shocking government decision, whose issuance was delayed for more than half a century, constituted a new blow to the storage sector, of which some make large profits illegally, with the knowledge of the government, as it stipulated stopping the renewal of exploitation contracts without exception, and re-offering all storage spaces for exploitation through a public auction.
This is a suspicious and surprising decision, and it includes great injustice to those who adhered to all the rules, and did not violate the law, whether those who previously obtained those plots from the state, or those who bought them from the market, and did not violate the law by renting them to others, but it seems that there is a struggle between greedy parties in the government and powerful ones in the private sector, to seize the storage spaces that are in the hands of the latter.
To cover up “this greed”, it was decided to withdraw all the plots and put them back in a public auction. As the saying goes: “When elephants fight, it is the grass that bears the brunt.”
There is no doubt that withdrawing all warehouses and putting them back in an auction will result in a large income for the state, but it is a failed decision, very difficult to implement, will cause great losses and bankruptcy and the prices of all materials will be negatively affected as a result of the evacuation and re-stocking of tens of millions of tons, similar to the process of forced displacement that took place with the separation of Pakistan from India and millions were exposed to death.
Our experiences with the current government, in light of all the confusion it is living through, does not make us reassured of the correctness of its decisions, especially in light of the recent unreasonable and hasty decision of increases for the owners of chalets and farms, which included severe defects and make us not very reassured about what is to come.
We have been demanding to organize the process of exploiting the state’s land allocated for storage to increase the state’s income, to apply the laws firmly and to hold accountable all those who abused these facilities for their personal benefit.
How can the same method of dealing be used with the one who obtained the plot directly from the state or bought the right to exploit it from others in a legal way, and used it completely for his own needs, and the one who got it from the government, under the pretext of his need for it, then built huge buildings on it and rented them out to dozens as stores, exhibitions and restaurants, health clubs, etc.?
We have previously called for the necessity of providing new warehouses and handing them over to public-owned companies that specialize in managing them, according to certain geographical areas that they are not entitled to leave, so that these companies provide storage spaces for others on easy terms that achieve a reasonable return for their shareholders, and achieve high revenue for the state, and exempt it from routine management and costly tasks, to be devoted to control only, so that the merchant gets his need from the stores at reasonable prices, and the consumer benefits indirectly from price inflation, as a result of the unjustified rise in the cost of storage.
The state has failed to collect its rental rights from the exploiters of chalets, farms, and others for more than half a century, and suddenly it woke up from its slumber and imposed a set of exorbitant fees on these properties, as if it wanted to take revenge in one day for the neglect of the previous governments, which lasted for a long time. What is the fault of the citizen here, and the committed merchant?
Wouldn’t it have been better to gradually impose fees, which we have called for in several articles to be increased?
Will Kuwait become “socialist” with the government owning everything?
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