MP criticizes plan to set portfolios, joint funds

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 7: Even as the Deputy Premier for Economic Affairs Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd Al-Sabah is keen on solving the housing problem, the government must offer its support in that regard to reassure the citizens, reports Al-Anba daily quoting MP Dr Mohammed Al-Huwaila as saying.

According to MP Al-Huwaila, Sheikh Al-Fahd recently announced the sector was planning to build 80,000 apartments in the next six years, and noted the Council of Ministers approved the auctioning of 2,500 plots.

In a statement to the daily, MP Huwaila noted that Sheikh Al-Fahd will resolve the issue by providing the best solution to it, urging the government institutions to work together in resolving the issue. He called for the sector to release lands, considering the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) has so far received about 90,000 applications.

In other developments, MP Al-Huwaila requested Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Kuwait Municipality to cooperate with PAHW to work out the problems impeding the housing project in West Hadiya, which is likely to provide about 4,000 apartments.

Steal
Meanwhile, MP Daifullah Buramiya has criticized the government's plan to set portfolios, and joint funds through Kuwait Development Fund to support companies and entrepreneurs keen on securing the public sector through loans with minimal or no interests. He described the move as an attempt to steal public wealth, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

MP Buramiya revealed the government is trying to distribute public wealth with certain merchants through the privatization law. "We rejected the law when it was put forward in the National Assembly, because it targets public wealth. Why would any company without funds or liquidity want to secure the public sector? If such companies are serious, they should go to the bank like other citizens do", he argued.

Apparently, some of these entrepreneurs own the banks which have allegedly been establish to impose interests on citizens, he added, indicating the banks' owners resort to the government for 'easy loans' without or with minimal interests, amid an extended installment period. He is of the view that the 'government of merchants' has ignored the sufferings of citizens, in an effort to save funds for some merchants.

© Arab Times 2010