KUWAIT: A plan to limit cars to two for every family in Kuwait is a 'daydream', if not a very unrealistic move which could only prolong the agony of road users and not solve the traffic problem in the country, said a local economist. "We are just prolonging the suffering of many road users. The real issue here is good infrastructure - roads, bridges, railways and good traffic management," said Dr Hajjaj Abu- Khudoor. "Absence of these means failure and it reflects on the government and country. Who do you think from us will drive two cars or even more at one time. What we need is better traffic management.
We need better traffic managers, people who can enforce existing laws. So far, we don't have them," he added. He said implementing the law limiting the use of cars is a mistake. "Don't suppress the economy by implementing a 'stupid law' that would only hurt us - we need cooperation of every ministry to sit down in a proper forum and draft a law that would benefit the whole country and not just certain individuals," Abu- Khudoor mentioned. "We are suppressing the economy - we should go forward not backward. The reality is that we are a developing and a growing country - and if you stop importing cars, you are limiting the economic growth of the country," he added. Mohammad, a student at Kuwait University said he does not believe the proposal will be approved. "It's a nonsense law. It will not be approved - I am pretty sure," he noted.
Stanley, an expat and car expert from India, believes the plan is very unrealistic. "It will not reduce the traffic problem because even if I have a hundred cars, I can only drive one car at a time. I don't see how it will help reduce traffic jams," he said. The interior ministry recently said it will issue a decision under which drivers are only allowed to own a maximum of two cars. Those who want to own more than two will have to pay extra fees to register the third or more cars. The decision was reportedly announced by traffic chief Abdulfattah Al-Ali, who said the proposal is included in a comprehensive study on the reasons for traffic jams that is set to be submitted to Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah. There is no timeframe as to when the new stipulation will be put into effect, but Ali's statements seem to suggest that it will be applied in the very near future.
The ministry has already started implementing a new procedure under which a driving license is compulsory for a person to register a vehicle in his or her name. Ali's statements came during a traffic crackdown in Khairan on Thursday night, during which he announced that the Interior Ministry has collected KD 41 million out of KD 51 million owed in traffic fines.
© Kuwait Times 2013
