Time running out … roads with potholes, pebbles, ongoing repairs spell disaster

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‘A wasted opportunity by minister during curfew timings’

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 19: The rain in Kuwait a few days ago, which in some parts of the country was really satisfactory, brought an equal amount of happiness and fear, not only because of the past incidents which submerged some areas and people lost their property, which is still fresh in our minds.

The Minister of Public Works, Minister of State for Housing Affairs Dr Rana Al-Faris does not seem to have acted on the advice of HH the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad – we pray to God to have mercy on him – who had called on the authorities to take advantage of the total and partial curfew to repair the roads and contain the phenomenon of flying gravel that is worsening year after year. In spite of the country being under partial or total curfew for several months, many roads wear the same look – damaged and full of potholes.

To add insult to injury ‘sudden diversions’ have significantly increased the death rate by accidents. Informed sources have told the Al-Seyassah daily, they are deeply concerned and fear the possibility of a recurrence of the phenomenon of flooding of many roads, streets and regions during the current winter season.

The sources said, Minister Al- Faris was given a golden opportunity and unlimited support by the political leadership, the government and the regulatory agencies to repair roads, tap potholes, but the minister seems to have wasted time and these opportunities and has made no progress in this area.

The minister has failed to utilize the opportunity which came in the form of schools closure and due to the total and partial ban to repair the roads. The sources said, the Minister was more interested in re-paving internal roads in some areas of private housing for political reasons, while the main highways remain the same foremost of which are the King Fahd, Salmi, Abdali, Fahaheel, Al-Ghous, and the Sixth and Seventh Ring Roads.

The sources pointed out, some of these roads have been nicknamed ‘the road of death’ because of the innumerable accidents that happen on these roads due to wear and tear and technical defects and have increased dramatically over the past years.

The sources pointed out the Ministry of Public Works had signed contracts worth ‘billions’ to complete the road projects during the ‘Corona’ crisis. If this money was made available to other countries, the scenario would have been totally different and the job would have been completed within just 4 months, but in Kuwait even after a year the road reforms are still in the pipeline while the rainy season is already knocking on the door.

The sources indicated that the scene at the level of housing projects does not seem different, despite its exclusion from the prior control of the Audit Bureau, the housing crisis has increased in severity during the recent period, and the queue at the Public Authority for Housing Welfare is never ending, especially since the completion rates in housing projects of Mutla’a, Khairan, South Sabah Al-Ahmad, West Abdullah Al-Mubarak and others have almost stopped.

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