Ministry of Commerce: New rules for distributing subsidized construction materials
Ali Al-Khalidi: The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Osama Al-Boudi, issued a ministerial decision introducing fundamental amendments to Ministerial Decision No. (222) of 2024, concerning the regulatory rules for the disbursement of subsidized and discounted construction materials. The decision, which was reviewed by "Al-Qabas," stipulates an amendment to Article Four, explicitly stating that subsidized construction materials are granted to the beneficiary only once. The eligibility and disbursement processes are automatically linked to the citizen’s civil ID number, with the aim of preventing any beneficiary from receiving materials more than once.
The new decision included two separate measures: the first involved replacing the text of clauses (1) and (6) of Article Four with two new texts, and the second involved completely abolishing clause (7) of the same article, which previously regulated the procedures for transferring and assigning subsidized construction materials in cases of residential plot exchanges between citizens.
The decision stipulated replacing clauses (1) and (6) of Article Four of Ministerial Decision No. (222) of 2024 with the following texts:
Clause One: The account holder must have obtained a loan from the Kuwait Credit Bank, whether it is a construction loan, a renovation and expansion loan, a purchase loan, or a demolition and reconstruction loan. The materials shall be disbursed to the beneficiary only once, with their eligibility determined according to their civil ID number, and the disbursement shall be linked to this number.
Clause Six: If the beneficiary is a homeowner wishing to demolish and rebuild their house, the ruling of Clause (First) of Article Two shall apply to them. The following conditions are required for this:
- The beneficiary must have obtained a demolition and reconstruction loan from the Kuwait Credit Bank.
- The demolition permit and the new construction permit must be submitted via the electronic system.
- A letter from the Kuwait Credit Bank must be provided, specifying the amount reserved for demolition and reconstruction. The amount shall be determined according to the accounting systems for the prescribed construction area, taking into account the deduction of quantities previously disbursed to the beneficiary.
Furthermore, Article Two of the decision stipulated the abolition of clause (7) of Article Four of Ministerial Decision No. (222) of 2024, and the abolition of any provision that contradicts the provisions of this decision.
The abolished clause (number 7) stipulated that if the beneficiary wished to exchange residential plots, the plots must be inspected by the Supply Administration or the Commercial Control Administration to verify the construction status. If it was discovered that a beneficiary had used the construction materials allocated to them without justification for the plot they exchanged, these materials would be recorded against them, and they would be barred from claiming anything else. Meanwhile, the total allocations due to the other beneficiary for the exchanged plot would be disbursed. In cases of agreement between beneficiaries, a transfer form for materials between the two parties was relied upon.
