Assaults and Violations
On May 15, 2019, I wrote that the Municipality had revealed several cases of citizens stealing or encroaching upon state property and exploiting it illegally. The scale of just one such violation reached 282,000 square meters. This real estate violation may be the largest and most shameless in Kuwait’s history. What kind of audacity, intelligence, or rather stupidity characterized these individuals, leading them to believe they could get away with their plunder without any supervisory authority noticing, despite its enormous size, which is visible to the naked eye every day on the Corniche? At the time, it represented the peak of disregard for the dignity of the state and contempt for the consequences. It was preceded by a billion-dinar theft of sand from the Sabah area, which was sold to construction and contracting companies.
The recent test balloon regarding the removal of or imposition of fees on car canopies revealed strong public opposition to the decision. The presence of canopies is not a luxury but a necessity. Kuwait is not “Swiss Lausanne”; it is part of a desert with extremely hot summers, making it very difficult to drive any vehicle for hours under the scorching sun. Therefore, relevant authorities should consider finding a better alternative to the ugly “Shenco canopies,” and encourage citizens to use landscaping to protect their cars instead of cheap metal canopies and easily torn fabrics. There are relevant entities dealing with the landscaping of parking areas, and one can contact them.
Furthermore, encroachments on state property are a continuous process, committed by citizens and residents alike, intentionally or unintentionally. Supervision over them should not be seasonal but should continue throughout the year. Consequently, we need a “permanent” committee to remove encroachments on state property, headed by a national figure known for integrity and firmness. Years of laxity have made the tendency toward violations a “Kuwaiti nature” for many.
We had predicted, more than once, that the retirement of Lieutenant General Mohammed Al-Badr created a vacuum in the committee’s work, and this indeed happened. Firmness completely disappeared for ten years, and it is now clearly returning strongly, since the violations have become truly lamentable, after having been laughable in their absurdity. The removal committees revealed the existence of tunnels under streets, corridors built entirely under house gardens, and parking spaces accommodating dozens of vehicles, constructed on state land. Some individuals established park-like areas spanning tens of thousands of square meters in front of their homes, surrounded by iron fences on public property. Others built canopies for housing workers and domestic staff, as well as unauthorized extensions and complete buildings, along with violations that are hard to imagine. Therefore, it was necessary to apply the “razor to all heads,” perhaps as happened with the “withdrawal” cases! Carefully examining each case, measuring its dimensions, specifications, and owner, and determining its size before making a decision would have allowed the situation to drag on for decades.
Note: Everything said and published about the Municipality teams removing car canopies installed in correct locations, around houses, and car parking canopies in several state hospitals, is completely unfounded.
Ahmed Al-Sarraf
