Municipality Technical Committee Resumes Work to Resolve Infrastructure, Customs, and Energy Files

Badah Al-Anazi

The Technical Committee of the Municipal Council resumed its work following the end of the summer vacation, approving a request from the General Administration of Customs to expand the Salima border crossing and to reassign a site to support the Al-Durra Field project.

Engineer Manira Al-Amir stated that the meeting discussed several files and transactions of technical and organizational importance. She noted that the committee addressed the presented topics in accordance with studies and technical responses from relevant authorities, aiming to serve the public interest and preserve the integrity of urban planning, services, and infrastructure in the State of Kuwait.

She clarified that the committee reviewed ten major transactions, which included files related to infrastructure, sewage, and the reassignment of sites for the Kuwait Public Transport Company. These were alongside the expansion of the Salima border crossing, a strategic file concerning the support of land-based treatment facilities and structures for the offshore Al-Durra Field project, a request to add floors to the parking building in the East area, a request to reorganize a plot in Hawalli, a request to utilize vacant lands designated for government entities as temporary parking lots, and a request to organize and utilize sites within road rights-of-way as parking areas.

Regarding the request from the Ministry of Public Works to designate a sewage pipeline route to connect the sewage lift station with the end of an existing route within the South Sabah Al-Ahmed residential city (N11), Al-Amir explained that the committee approved the request for a route approximately 1,900 meters long and 10 meters wide.

She indicated that the approval came with several conditions, including adherence to the stipulations outlined in the responses of the Sub-Committee for Utilities and Public Services and coordination with them prior to implementation. Additionally, a comprehensive study evaluating the environmental and social impact of the project, endorsed by the Public Authority for Environmental Affairs, must be submitted.

Al-Amir added that the committee also conditioned the approval on fixing the site location, given the existence of the Green Belt project for which the Municipal Council had issued a decision. She noted that relevant administrations were authorized to make any necessary shifts or adjustments to the route’s lengths and coordinates, provided such changes do not exceed the designated length in cases of conflict with existing infrastructure services or for organizational reasons.

Engineer Manira Al-Amir pointed out that the committee approved the Ministry of Finance’s request to reassign sites for the Kuwait Public Transport Company from the Public Authority for Industry to the Ministry of Finance, in accordance with the relevant Cabinet of Ministers decision. These sites include the Abdullah Port depot, covering an area of 200,000 square meters, and the Shuwaikh depot, covering an area of 67,279.5 square meters. Relevant administrations were authorized to make necessary organizational adjustments to the dimensions and areas of these sites, provided they do not exceed the designated areas in cases of conflict with infrastructure services or for organizational reasons, and to annul any previous decisions contradicting this.

In another file, it was reported that approval was granted to the General Administration of Customs’ request to expand the Salima border crossing site by an additional area of approximately one million square meters.

She clarified that the total area of the site after expansion will reach approximately 2,339,132 square meters. The expansion will be utilized for dry and wet storage areas, shaded and open storage zones, and additional services for the crossing, in line with the government use of the site.

She confirmed that the approval was conditional upon submitting a comprehensive study to assess the environmental and social impact prior to implementation, complying with the requirements of the Sub-Committee for Utilities and Public Services and coordinating with it before execution, in addition to allowing relevant departments to carry out necessary regulatory adjustments without exceeding the designated areas.

Engineer Manira Al-Amir added that the committee also discussed a request to cancel the allocation of the site for the third Olefins project and the second Aromatics project (D2), and to re-allocate it to the Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC) to support expansion operations for the onshore processing facilities and installations of the North Field offshore project (OPF) in the Zour area.

She clarified that the site covers an area of 2.5 million square meters, and that the approval for its re-allocation came after receiving endorsements from relevant authorities, including the Petrochemical Industries Company, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, and the Ministry of Oil. She highlighted the importance of the North Field development project and its vital impact and benefits to the country, as stated in the official correspondence.

She emphasized that the approval included compliance with the requirements of the Sub-Committee for Utilities and Public Services and coordination with it before implementation, while authorizing relevant departments to make necessary adjustments to the site’s dimensions and area, provided they do not exceed the designated area in case of conflicts with infrastructure services or for regulatory reasons.

She confirmed that the committee rejected a request by a real estate company to add two floors to a multi-story parking building in the East area, Plot 8. She explained that the technical study showed that adding the two floors would raise the building to include two basements, a ground floor, nine repetitive upper floors, and roof-covered parking spaces, which violates the current standards and specifications applied by the Kuwait Municipality for multi-story parking buildings.

She stressed that the committee’s stance was based on the technical study and current specifications, ensuring compliance with approved regulatory requirements.

A request to re-organize one of the plots within Plot 87 in the Hawalli area was also rejected. She clarified that the study indicated that the plot in question is state-owned and located within an area designated for residential and investment use. She pointed out that the matter falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, State Property Administration, as the competent authority responsible for evaluating land and offering it for public auction in accordance with the law referenced in the correspondence. Consequently, the technical opinion concluded with non-approval of the request.

Engineer Manira Al-Amir emphasized that the technical committee continues to fulfill its role by carefully studying referred issues and relying on technical studies and responses from relevant departments and authorities, while balancing the support for priority projects and services with adherence to regulatory and environmental requirements and the protection of existing infrastructure.

In line with the committee’s direction toward supporting practical solutions for the shortage of parking spaces and reducing traffic congestion, she explained that the committee approved an amendment to a previous Municipal Council decision, allowing the utilization of sites within road right-of-way limits to establish temporary surface parking lots. This implementation follows Item One (paragraph b) of the Cabinet of Ministers’ decision. She noted that this approach aims to provide short- and medium-term solutions for areas experiencing high traffic density and a lack of parking spaces, while emphasizing that these parking lots are temporary and removable whenever there is a need to implement, expand, or construct road projects, or upon request by the Ministry of Public Works, the Kuwait Municipality, or any of the service ministries.

Al-Amir confirmed that the committee established a set of controls to ensure that these parking lots do not affect road network efficiency or traffic safety. Key among these controls is determining each site in coordination between the Kuwait Municipality, the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Public Works, obtaining approvals from relevant service ministries before finalizing any site, and ensuring that proposed parking lots do not conflict with existing or future services and infrastructure.

She added that temporary parking facilities must be linked to the internal road networks of the areas, without creating new direct entrances or exits from main or expressways, while observing safety requirements and safe distances at intersections and road entrances and exits, and coordinating with the Ministry of Finance on relevant sites and procedures.

She emphasized that the committee approved utilizing vacant lands allocated to government entities as surface parking lots on a temporary basis, pending the commencement of projects designated for those sites, in implementation of Item One (Paragraph A) of the Cabinet of Ministers’ decision as well.

She clarified that this approach represents one of the practical solutions for utilizing unused government lands during the transitional period preceding the implementation of designated projects, thereby contributing to providing additional parking spaces and making use of available lands without affecting the plans of government entities or future projects assigned to them.

She stressed that the utilization of any site would be tied to the execution phase of the project designated for it, requiring coordination with the Kuwait Municipality, the Ministry of Public Works, and the Ministry of Interior to determine the feasibility of utilizing each site and its specific conditions, in addition to obtaining approval from the government entity owning the allocation to ensure that the temporary use of the site does not conflict with the project’s implementation schedule.

She indicated that newly established parking facilities would be removed immediately upon request by the government entity to which the site is allocated, with the entity that implemented the parking facilities responsible for their removal, and that coordination with the Ministry of Finance is necessary regarding related procedures.

Engineer Munira Al-Amir emphasized that the committee views these temporary solutions as flexible measures to address current needs without compromising the future planning of the sites, noting that the success of these solutions depends on prior coordination among government entities and full compliance with the technical, traffic, and service requirements for each site individually.

She concluded that the outcomes of the meeting reflect the diverse files handled by the Municipal Council, ranging from infrastructure and service projects, through border crossings and strategic projects, to real estate and regulatory requests, affirming that the primary criterion in reviewing any transaction is its compatibility with technical and regulatory requirements and its achievement of the public interest.