Procedures slow: engineer
KUWAIT CITY: Several government authorities have delayed the processing of documents requested by the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) for the construction of the Sheikh Jaber Bridge in Al-Subiyah, revealed one of the engineers who is overseeing the project.
The 37 kilometer long bridge will connect Kuwait City to the soon to be established Subiyah City in the northern part of Kuwait where 50,000 housing units will be constructed to accommodate an estimated population of 250,000 in a bid to solve the housing problems in the country.
Disclosing that the Ministries of Interior, Defense and Health as well as Kuwait Municipality and Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) have, until now, not responded to the letters forwarded earlier by the MPW, the engineer complained "the procedures in some of these authorities are very slow while some of them have stopped processing the documents three months ago."
A team of engineers at the MPW will soon meet with Public Works Minister and State Minister for Municipality Affairs Mussa Al-Sarraf to discuss the obstacles they are currently facing in the implementation of the project. The team will also ask Al-Sarraf to refer the issue to Deputy Premier, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Faisal Al-Hajji to expedite the processing of the required documents in the concerned government departments. "We hope that Al-Sarraf will take the necessary action upon his return from China and urge the services ministries to facilitate the issuance of the required documents," said the engineer adding that the MPW had earlier formed a team to follow up the project.
The Cabinet, however, issued a decision to postpone the construction of the bridge when the Environment Public Authority (EPA) submitted a report highlighting the negative impact of the project to the environment. The engineer confirmed that the Ministry has started taking concrete steps to address the environmental concerns underlined by EPA.
By Talal Al-Shimmari
© Arab Times 2007
