Municipal Council members seek answers on public beach project

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KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: Municipal Council members – Dr. Hassan Kamal, Farah Al- Roumi and Sharifa Al-Shalfan – submitted questions and proposals to the executive body on the first working day after the end of the spring break for the Municipal Council members. The Municipal Council member Dr. Hassan Kamal asked the executive branch questions about the project for the beautification and maintenance of public beaches in the State of Kuwait. He pointed out in the preamble to his questions that the municipality is implementing its projects through the projects sector of the Kuwait Municipality’s executive branch. He explained that among these projects, the contract No. BK / A / 9 (A) – 2015/2016 was signed, which is related to the beautification, and maintenance of the public beaches in the State of Kuwait.

There is also a contract for the maintenance and beautification of the beaches of Anjafa, Fintas, Shuwaikh and others. Dr. Kamal asked the municipality to provide him with information related to the aforementioned project, such as the date of signing this contract, the contractual period, the schedule for its work, and the percentage of project completion to date.

Failure
He also inquired about the public sites and beaches included in the project, the reasons for the disruption of the implementation of its work and whether they were related to the contractor’s failure to implement it, the contractor’s data, and the reasons for his failure, and the change orders in the project, the type of change order, its duration, and its value. Dr. Kamal also asked a question about the expected date for completion of the project work. He asked for the revised timetable and the final cost of the project and committed the municipality to the legal period to answer members’ questions based on law No. 33/2016.

In turn, another member of the Municipal Council, architect Sharifa Al-Shalfan, also submitted some questions to the executive branch regarding the controls for sorting municipal waste. In the preamble of her letter on the questions, she highlighted the issuance of the ministerial resolution No. 354/2023 regarding municipal waste management and public hygiene regulations, which imposes sorting at the source, for the first time in Kuwait, according to the text of clause A of article 2, which states, “The source of waste must sort it according to the municipality’s instructions, take it to the collection sites specified by the municipality on the dates it announces, and place it in sealed containers or bags. The municipality shall specify the places and conditions in which each type is used and its specifications.”

Al-Shalfan explained that implementing the item she mentioned is linked to the controls set by the municipality, as well as including them in contracts for public cleaning and new landfills and educating residents and companies about those controls. She asked the executive body, “Have the instructions and controls mentioned in the above article regarding sorting of waste been adopted? If the answer is no, please specify a date for issuing these controls, and provide us with them once they are finalized. If the answer is yes, please provide us with those controls.” In addition, another Municipal Council member Farah Al-Roumi presented a proposal for preparing a sustainability list and guidelines for rehabilitating and preserving archaeological sites and historical buildings. In the preamble to her proposal, she referred to the Amiri decree No. 11/1960 regarding the Antiquities Law and the amendments thereto in 1994, according to which the task of preserving antiquities is entrusted to the National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature (NCCAL). Al-Roumi said, “It alone has the responsibility of assessing the archaeological and historical character of objects, sites and buildings.

Under articles 3 and 4 of the Antiquities Law referred to above, historical buildings and archaeological sites are considered immovable antiquities that must be preserved, and what should be preserved must be maintained.” She explained that the Department of Architectural and Engineering Affairs at NCCAL, by the provisions of the Antiquities Law and its explanatory memorandum, cooperated with government agencies in the country, especially the municipality, to conduct a study to survey and evaluate various historical buildings in the State of Kuwait and classify them according to their historical importance, architectural character and structural condition.

The department also issued restoration and maintenance methods for historical buildings and technical specifications used in the maintenance and restoration of historical buildings, which contained a description of the basic stages that a historic building restoration project must pass through. It highlighted the necessity of preserving the architectural character of antiquity and all the decorative and artistic elements without distortion or deformation, and that the restoration of these buildings should be done by taking advantage of the traditional materials and methods used in creating these archaeological buildings.

After reviewing the methods, it became clear that they are not concerned with the technical aspect of applying the principle of sustainability to these historical buildings, as there is no clear regulation of the mechanism for maintaining and restoring the buildings, or the nature or sources of the materials to be used, other than indicating the necessity of taking into account the architectural character and making use of traditional materials and methods. Thus, NCCAL’s procedures for maintaining and restoring historical buildings focus on inspecting the correct technical reference for preserving the archaeological and architectural values of archaeological sites and historical buildings. The project for their maintenance and restoration must be according to a clear strategy that achieves their sustainability and preserves their value.

By Inaas Awadh
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff

This news has been read 831 times!