Some areas unfit for human living: citizens, expats

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 4, (Agencies): Minister of Public Works Dr Rana Al-Fares referred a report to Public Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) about damages in roads caused by rain fall and amongst recommendations was improving designing criteria of rain drainage networks in future projects. Ministry spokesman Abdullah Al-Ajmi said Al-Fares, also Minister of State for Municipal Affairs, approved the technical recommendations of the report. He said roads paved since April 2019 were not damaged.

Roads that were damaged were old, said Al-Ajmi, and it was the contractor’s responsibility to fix them in accordance with the contract. Neglect of roads is no longer confined to investment housing areas only, but recently it appears this neglect has seeped into the private housing areas, where the streets look similar with potholes and erosion of asphalt every few meters and it has become extremely difficult to differentiate one street from another as the citizens and residents continue to share the same concern, reported Al-Seyassah daily .

The dilapidated streets and sidewalks are similar, as those at the Khaitan Police Station are the same as Hawalli, Sabahiya, Dhahr, Fahaheel, Saad Al-Abdullah, Taima, Sabah Al-Nasser, Rawdah, and other areas, although the Khaitan Police Station deserves to be singled out as the area with the largest number of potholes. The Al-Seyassah daily during a tour of many of these areas, says the most prominent of these problems, which reveal a severe randomness in dealing with the infrastructure, shows even the sidewalks are neglected and is badly in need of comprehensive maintenance.

Unbearable
One of the Kuwaitis, during a tour of Khaitan, said the streets of Khaitan have become unbearable with potholes every inch with the worn out asphalt adding insult to injury in many parts of the suburb, surprisingly the street in front and around the police station in the area is no better and the same can be said of the commercial complexes, banks and restaurants, and called on the competent authorities to repair the streets of Khaitan, as well as the streets of other regions, pointing out that he lives in the Sabah Al-Nasser area and the streets in that suburb are bad as well.

Another Kuwaiti, who identified himself as H.F., lamented the role of the MPs in the National Assembly because they seem to have turned their backs on the streets, and singled out the Khaitan Police Station as an example. He called for the Ministry of Public Works to deal with these roads and have mercy on the citizens and everyone who lives on the land of Kuwait.

Another Kuwaiti, A.R.K., says he believes the disastrous condition of most of Kuwait’s streets confirm that we are still suffering from corruption, and it appears there is no real control by the Ministry of Public Works over contracting companies which are responsible for paving the roads and pavements. He said the streets of Khaitan, Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, Farwaniya, or even private housing areas, are the same and depict mini pools of water during rainfall.