We have a housing problem that affects tens, or perhaps hundreds of thousands of citizens who are waiting for a decent housing between now and the next five years, and most of these people do not have the ability to buy land and build a lifetime home without relying on the government and borrowing from various institutions.
The problem is social and ethical before it is a logistical, financial and political.
Despite the scarcity of state resources, the diminishing size of the prosperity state and the diminishing area of proper housing land, citizens are determined to build a house that is no less in its splendor and size than the homes of their peers.
A study by former MP and Minister Mishari Al-Anjari showed the average area for lifetime house in America is 224 meters, in Britain it is 214 meters, and in Canada it is 181 meters, three countries that are the richest countries in the world.
As for Kuwait, which belongs to the category of underdeveloped countries, the average size of the house is more than five times in those countries. There is also a near total rejection of vertical housing due to the wrong social and school culture.
What many do not want to pay attention to is that the house is not a land and a concrete building. Rather, it resembles a living organism because it needs regular maintenance and daily cleaning, and the cost of electricity and water and furnishing, all of these things are in constant rise and constitute a major reason behind citizens’ complaints about their low salaries though they are in the thousands, often because they built homes that were big-size.
Al-Anjari’s study says that the Kuwaiti government has the largest inflated consumer budget in the world, dominated by fat disproportional salaries and subsidies in a country that does not have taxes, almost non-existent customs duties and the prices of fuel, electricity, water and food are relatively cheap.
Consequently, we not only complain about the lack of sufficient decent housing for thousands of citizens, but also those who have acquired homes complain about the increased cost of building material, maintenance and other issues.
Therefore, the population problem is exacerbating, and most of those concerned are busy settling their personal grudges and placing them above all other considerations. Mr. Al-Anjari called for a serious pause and objective discussion at all levels especially from the technical and economic point of views, as well as from the youth who are waiting for the allocation of housing for them, to develop appropriate scientific and practical solutions to the problem.
Nevertheless, Mr. Mishari Al-Anjari and many sincere people like him know more than others that what they are demanding either falls on deaf ear or people refuse to see the truth and this does not make any different to a government whose priorities are simply unrealistic.
The issue is a matter of culture, bold decisions, and swift action, and all of these matters need something that cannot be mentioned publicly.
e-mail: [email protected]
By Ahmad alsarraf
