The housing cities

The press release says, "The National Assembly approved the law establishing housing city construction companies." Personally, I hope that this law will succeed, and that the government will succeed in its implementation. But with my deep knowledge of the real estate market and the relevant state agencies, I challenge that this is not going to happen, hoping at the same time to lose this challenge. I hope that this project succeeds. Dr. Jinan Bushahri was the only one who expressed important remarks that deserve to be noted, stating, "For the law to succeed and achieve its goals, the government must follow up on implementation seriously and facilitate all procedures related to it by other relevant government agencies, so that previous failed experiences are not repeated. If any notes or obstacles appear during the implementation, the government must expedite legislative amendments to correct them so that the law is not legislation of no value."

Yes, Dr. Janan, your comment is valuable, but you know more than others that the state agencies related to the project are not capable of solving the problems. I have previously drafted an article titled "Holes in Housing Cities" in January of last year, and, in summary, I reiterate some of what I wrote: "

This law is emotionally drafted and loose in content, and I tell you that this law project will not pass because, as it is said, "it will take a lot of time." This law overlooked many technical matters, which are the main reason for the chaos in the real estate sector. Since the article cannot cover the whole issue, but so that this mistake is not repeated and the new areas turn into warehouse buildings and shops while the poor citizen remains at the mercy of those companies that are to be established, let me mention some points to convey the idea. The draft law stated that the Public Authority for Housing Welfare is committed to establishing joint stock companies and manifesting the executive regulations for them, along with the basis for approving these qualified companies in this regard and laying down the rules for their classification. Let us discuss this point, as the establishment of companies is considered the easiest thing. But what do these companies do? In other words, will these companies get the land and present their designs and economic feasibility to the institution? Or is it the institution that will do it? Well, the shareholders of those companies who are entrusted with the management, especially if they are international companies, will have an initial question: "How much will we profit?" "What will the companies do?" You will not be able to find collaborators if the project is not feasible and procedurally complex. The investor has a capitalist view, and your view is socialist, and the evidence for this is that the institution decides the selling price of the units, but it is the companies that will implement the infrastructure. So, if the plots’ costs are higher than the institution’s price and if the plots' costs are higher than the citizen’s purchasing power, how will the situation be? How will these companies dispose of the surplus from those plots? Well, I have a question: which laws and building systems will be applied to these cities? Will you return to the municipal council to approve the organizational structure? Will the building rate be applied at 210% with three floors, a basement, and two apartments, and then it will be converted to a rent system, like in Salwa and Jabriya areas? Or how will it be? I give an example here, and you can comment: the marine suburb of Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, "Al-Khiran." The basis of this project is state land that was given to an investor, who implemented the infrastructure and supplied thousands of plots. After the project was completed, a good question arose about the effect that this area is a marine area and an area of upscale chalets, so what is the percentage of and the construction conditions to be applied in accordance with the nature of the project? The response from the municipal council was to treat the area as a private housing area, and what applies to private housing also applies to it. This was a big mistake that confused the area's system. I do not need to tell you how dreadful things have gotten; just look at the massive number of building violations. My fellow legislators and our wise government, do you know how much electrical load is required to be provided for these cities? Do we need to build new plants for water purification and electricity generation, and how much time and money are needed to implement them? Will these companies wait for our government to supply electricity? How will the economic viability of these companies change if the delivery of electricity is delayed, and we have an existing problem with the ability of the Ministry of Electricity to supply energy for existing projects? So, are the lands that you provide to companies for them to build these cities approved by the government and free of obstacles? Or do the companies have to wait for years and years after establishing it until those lands are prepared and handed over to them? There is a question that puzzles me: What will these companies do after they implement the cities entrusted to them and sell them? Will it be liquidated, or will it turn into giant real estate companies that contribute to creating an imbalance in supply and demand? Then you will complain and accuse them of monopolies and unreasonable prices, especially since their ownership will eventually devolve to traders after they are listed on the stock exchange.

My fellow legislators and our wise government, I pray to Allah to guide you and guide the traders and contractors, and I pray to Allah to inspire patience in the Kuwaiti citizen.

Stay safe.