‘Banks must join fray; need to spike loans’

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 24: Different communities called for the involvement of local banks and real estate developers to solve the housing crisis. They stressed that, “The government and the National Assembly did not achieve anything to solve the crisis. Some people waited for more than 19 years, and some even 25 years, but they did not receive housing care.” According to an investigative report by Al-Seyassah, they called for exploiting the rent allowance, which amounts to about KD 250 million annually, to solve the housing crisis or build towers in which citizens can live until they obtain housing care. They stressed that the idea of a mortgage is not feasible for several reasons.

According to former Municipal Council member Eng. Maha Al-Baghli, the entry of local banks would contribute to solving the problem in terms of raising the value of the loan so that citizens can build their houses, especially since the housing loan of KD 70,000 that the state provides to citizens is not enough to build the plot. She affirmed that the entry of banks will move the banking sector as well as the contracting companies, indicating that the municipality is doing its duty in terms of allocating land and cooperating with all the concerned authorities, due to which the issue of non-availability of lands does not constitute an obstacle in solving the housing crisis. Eng. Al-Baghli said she believes the expansion of construction in areas near the border is a good idea, provided that construction is done gradually, and all difficulties are overcome. She revealed that the residents of Sabah Al-Ahmad are still suffering from the lack of government services and other services.

By Najeh Bilal
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff