Arab Times Staff

 

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 31: A joint committee consisting of members from the parliamentary Housing and Women Affairs panels will, within this week, finalize a proposal on granting housing privileges to Kuwaiti women not covered by the existing Housing Law, says Chairperson of the Health, Social and Labor Affairs Committee and member of the Women Affairs Committee MP Dr Rola Dashti.

“Granting housing rights of women is one of my priorities and it is part of my electoral program. We are determined to resolve the housing issue for Kuwaiti women to ensure that they enjoy family and social stability. We will push for the approval of the housing privileges for women at the beginning of the next legislative round,” Dashti asserted.

Affirming that several Kuwaiti women associations have been demanding approval of the housing draft bill over the last years, Dashti stressed, “We are bent on eliminating any form of discrimination against women, in addition to consolidating their role in social, human and economic development. We will take the required steps to ensure justice for women, who have been suffering due to the absence of proper housing care, especially the divorcees, widows, those married to non-Kuwaitis, and unmarried women who lost both parents.”

Clarifying the housing rights issue involves a large number of Kuwaiti women not covered by the current housing care program, Dashti disclosed this group includes 27,500 divorces, 21,200 widows, 11,000 married to non-Kuwaitis and 8,600 unmarried women above 40 years old.

She said she had earlier presented a draft bill on the establishment of the women housing fund with a capital of KD 500 million.

She explained this fund will offer a range of options for granting housing privileges to Kuwaiti women not covered by law number 47/1993, such as comfortable houses or apartments with low rental fees to guarantee decent living conditions for the women and their children. 

Dashti also unveiled a plan to amend the proposed fund to increase the capital of the Credit and Savings Bank (CSB) from KD 500 million to KD 3 billion.

She revealed there will be amendments to housing care law number 47/1993 and CSB law number 30/1965 for the Public Authority of Housing Welfare (PAHW) to grant housing privileges to these women. This will also allow the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) to offer easy payment terms for housing loans and low-cost apartments, she added.

The lawmaker commended Deputy Premier for Economic Affairs and State Minister for Housing and Development Affairs Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd for his commitment to end the suffering of women. She confirmed the joint panel has reached an agreement with the government to provide easy-to-pay housing loans to women by increasing the capital of CSB.