The citizen suffers, the Ministry of Social Affairs suffers, and the state as a whole suffers from the situation of cooperative societies.

Keeping the situation as it is is not in the interest of any party, other than the corrupt people who benefit from the current situation. In our opinion, the government decision-maker has one of two solutions:

The first: Privatizing the entire association project, including the land, buildings, and assets, and selling the entire project, for each residential area, to a joint-stock company, in which the people of the area, for example, will own 50 percent of its shares, 10 percent to the Kuwait Investment Authority, and 40 percent to the professional entity specialized in managing central markets.

Compensating the government with a fair amount for the land and buildings, and distributing the value of the association’s assets to the residents of the region in a fair proportion. There are of course many other scenarios.

Second: Keeping the current situation as it is, in accordance with the following conditions and amendments, and this means implementing the law establishing cooperative societies itself, after its reformulation:

n Separating the dominance of the association’s board of directors over the central market. The role of the Council is limited to selecting the managing company, contracting with it, and setting conditions and controls for monitoring its work, according to the schedule of conditions prepared by the Ministry of Social Affairs, provided that the Council’s oversight is within the narrowest limits.

n Keeping all other matters in the hands of the board of directors, such as the administrative and financial affairs of the rest of the association’s facilities, the right to rent or invest stores and branches outside the central market, and so on, while setting controls for these matters to prevent abuse in rent, through a clear bidding system.

n The management of the central market will be in accordance with specific conditions in a booklet, a copy of which the ministry has from the days of Minister Al-Sabeeh. Obligating the specialized company that will manage the central market to comply with the following requirements and conditions -- preventing the request for free goods; settlement of the merchant or supplier’s dues within a period of three months; preventing discounts; follow advanced and smart storage methods for preservation; follow proper preservation and storage methods to prevent damage to the goods and increase the burden on the supplier.

This is in addition to leaving the determination of commodity prices in the market to the managing company; changing the places where goods are displayed on the shelves on a monthly basis, and preventing monopoly in any way over the place where goods are displayed, even with a fee; refusal to place advertisements for candidates for the association’s board of directors on or inside the association’s doors. It is sufficient to display the biography of each candidate on a special board showing the biography of each candidate and preventing the addition of purchases by “non-members of the association” to the account of any of the members of the board of directors, the association’s management, or the owners of the managing company. Rather, sales are recorded on a special number that belongs to the association’s charitable work.

Add to this not allowing any party to place religious or partisan posters, or request the collection of donations at the entrances and exits of associations; increasing the penalty for violating board of directors members who are referred to the prosecution; the candidate for the Assembly Council elections must submit a statement to an integrity body, showing his assets, like any member of any financial body, along with a certificate of good conduct; determine the geography of each association on the map.

Other necessities include obligating the association’s board of directors to supervise the cleanliness of its area and beaches, if any; preventing associations from carrying out any political activity or work; adopting online sales and free delivery within the association’s geography.

The private retail companies that will manage the association’s central market are not permitted to manage the markets of more than 10 associations, to create fair competition between the managing companies and provide the best services and prices to the people of the region and shoppers.

e-mail: [email protected]

By Ahmed alsarraf