KUWAIT CITY, March 20: Ms. Safa Abdulrahman Al-Hashem, Chairman and Managing Director of Advantage Consulting Co. affirmed in a statement that the volume of investments required for infrastructure services sector, including water, electricity, roads and services sector (education and health) should have the largest share in the design/implementation of the development plan, if it ever sees the light, to meet many considerations and requirements the most important of which is  the increase in population and the annual rate of  human growth structure of Kuwait.
In the case of approving and implementing the oil and gas projects proposed within  the development plan, this means that even a steady growth of such services is a must because of the accelerated growth of the industrial base for the next five years “with a little optimism.”  

Ms. Al Hashem, added “The Government of Kuwait has large financial reserves by virtue of  many factors. The most important  of which represented in its external assets and oil wealth, but I and many agree with me that the government alone should not fund all service projects, water and electricity, but to put its partners (private sector companies) in mind to undertake their role fully and mainly in addition  to build strategic partnerships between the public and private sectors, particularly when the expertise of foreign firms being in practice, it is very important to involve local private sector companies for the transfer of experience represented in directly working  with foreign companies.
Furthermore, the state now and within the budget should not exceed the volume of financial allocations to the water sector and the agricultural by not less than 30%, equivalent to 9% of the total budget of the state, it is a neglected sector and is has not drawn attention within diversity of sources of investment, at least for local consumption, desalination projects and development of laboratories in the sanitation sector.

This percentage will be obvious and clear in our report which will be published this month that exhibits the details of such key proposals, as our resource of water have been subjected to many pressures in the past decade and per capita of the total water storage and electricity decreased by 19% per cent, due to the significant rise in per capita consumption, industry  development and other that may constitute  real challenges.
Ms. Al Hashem confirmed that the services sectors, whether health or education should remain under the umbrella of the government, but with the allocation of Non - Core functions that represent government-non related support services in both sectors directly as this is the core concept of  privatization.
We and the Government must be also fully aware that the services sector (water, electricity, education and health) requires not only funding for new projects to expand production capacity, but requires as well that there will be large allocations for comprehensive reforms, re-structuring of what is currently existing, the individual in Kuwait alone consumption rate of 10-12% of the total country’s consumption of water, a policy that is irrational and does not indicate any deep awareness to a problem that we have now existing and grows  massively with time that exhausted as many as non-renewable groundwater in the mid-eighties.

Government must also be aware that the reduced tariff for water and electricity and some distorted incentives led to that and to encourage individuals and companies to over-consumption and waste of electric power and water resources is purely an absurd way that reflects negligence.
Al-Hashem added: “Our coming report was based on a field study estimated the volume of water and electricity consumption between the years 1980 to 2007.
I was struck by the fact that the level of multiples in consumption levels, as consumption volume has doubled four times in relation with irrigation water and due to state’ efforts to develop agriculture in Abdali, Wafra and other desert areas.
At the end of her statement Ms. Safa Abdulrahman Al Hashem, confirmed saying: Blair did not say anything new when he emphasized that the State shall need to take the necessary decisions to conduct the required changes, we know and realize this fact, we  are aware and fully understand it, our biggest problem is represented in the decision making, application, soundness of implementation, high level of transparency and above all... judicious scope of thinking...let us pray!