KUWAIT CITY, April 15: The Municipal Council, chaired by Abdullah Al- Mahri, on Monday held its 16th regular session for the third legislative term; during which it approved the transfer of the allocation of labor residential cities to the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) and the Ministry of Finance. This complies with the decisions that the Cabinet took during its meetings on Nov 20, 2023 and July 16, 2024.

These decisions are as follows:
1. Allocate the first labor residential city in Subiya with an area of 2,465,000 square meters; and the third in South Jahra with an area of 1,015,000 square meters to PAHW.
2. Allocate the second labor residential city in North Mutlaa; the fifth in South Sabah Al-Ahmad; and the sixth in South Khiran Residential City with an area of 2,465,000 square meters each to the Ministry of Finance. The council approved the relocation of the fourth labor residential city in Sulaibiya-Kabad, which was allocated in its decision dated Jan 21, 2015 to the site shown in Sketch One attached to the application. This is due to a conflict with oil pipelines and an oil well at the current location.

The site’s dimensions were modified after coordination with the service ministries to preserve existing electricity facilities, with the site being under the Ministry of Finance. In a qualitative intervention at the session, council member and Technical Committee Chairperson Munira Al-Amir stressed the need for the State’s regulatory measures to be in line with a comprehensive vision that takes into account the urban and economic developments in the country. She also called for the reassessment of the current locations of labor residential cities and their suitability for the next phase.

On the other hand, council member and architect Sharifa Al-Shalfan underscored the need to verify the issue of flood channels in the sites designated for labor residential cities before implementation; warning that such obstacles could lead to enormous losses for the State if they are not addressed from the outset. Dr. Hassan Kamal corroborated Al- Shalfan’s opinion, emphasizing the need to differentiate between allocating sites for labor residential cities and allocating areas for workers’ gatherings.

Council member Alia Al-Farsi also agreed with Al-Shalfan, stressing the need to impose a binding condition on presenting the designs and components of labor residential city projects to the council before approving them for implementation. Furthermore, the council approved the request of the Ministry of Justice to allocate a site for the construction of the Experts Affairs Department building in Hawally Governorate (Mubarak Al-Abdullah, Block Seven).

By Inaas Awadh
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff