ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 2-3, 2021 LOCAL 4

Centenary founding of communist party Real estate facing tough time as HH the Amir ‘congratulates’ Chinese President Xi Jinping over 105K apartments lie vacant CITY, July 1, (KUNA): His historical relationship between both Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al- countries, wishing the Chinese presi- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah addressed dent life-long health and wellbeing. Thursday a congratulatory cable to Chi- His Highness Deputy Amir and ‘ tops list of empty apartments’ nese President Xi Jinping on the cente- Crown Prince Sheikh Meshaal Al- nary founding of the communist party. Ahmad Al-Sabah and His Highness In the cable, His Highness praised the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah By Najeh Bilal the party’s achievements during the Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent Al-Seyassah Staff past period in various fi elds. similar cables to the Chinese presi- He also stressed the mutual and dent. , July 1: Real estate statistics show more than 105,000 apartments lie vacant in various regions of the country, most of which are in the Hawalli Governorate. The statistics issued by the Pub- lic Authority for Civil Information (PACI), a copy of which has been obtained by the Al-Seyassah daily show the total number of apartments in all governorates is about 346,752, of which 105,897 were believed to be va- cant until the end of December 2020, which means that about a third of the country’s apartments are uninhabited. According to the statistics, the Hawalli Governorate tops the list of empty apart- ment among all governorates in terms of the number of residential apartments with a total of 142,951, including 40,514 vacant Photo by Rizk Taufi q apartments, while the Minister of Justice Abdullah Al-Roumi during a visit to the court complex in Farwaniya. is ranked second in terms of the number of inhabited or vacant apartments, with a total Minister inspects Farwaniya Courts Complex of about 89,000. The came in third place with a total of 82,293 apartments, of Deputy Prime Minister and Min- which the minister got first hand in- and head of the Personnel Com- which 18,990 are vacant; in fourth place ister of Justice and Minister of In- formation on workflow and what has mittee, Omar Al-Sharqawi, who is the Capital governorate with a total of tegrity Affairs Abdullah Al-Roumi been done to overcome difficulties. accompanied Al-Roumi said the 15,303, including 4,755 vacant apartments. Al-Rai photo called for overcoming all obstacles The statement added Al-Roumi committee had agreed during its One of the buildings in poor condition. that may encounter the ministry’s visited the Execution and the Ad- last meeting to hire 84 supervi- Empty visitors and talked of the need to vertising departments and some sors, as part of the ministry’s organize smooth performance of other departments, in addition to constant endeavor to encourage In the penultimate position, is the Many not renovated for years work to provide them a better ser- the lawyers’ rest in at the complex competent nationals to take up Mubarak Al-Kabeer Governorate with vice, reports Al-Seyassah daily. and met with a number of officials these positions to bring job stabil- 9,287 apartments, of which 6,404 are emp- This statement was issued by of those departments and some ity to this sector hire those who ty, and finally, the , with the Ministry of Justice following an visitors and listened to their com- prove their eligibility to help the a total of 7,763 apartments, including 1,517 inspection tour of Al-Roumi to the plaints and made observations. government to provide the best empty. MoC-affi liated buildings Farwaniya Courts Complex during The Undersecretary of ministry service to the citizen. The increase in the number of vacant apartments in Kuwait coincides with the actual application of the policy of adjust- ing the demographics, which began a few in dilapidated condition years ago and the situation worsened with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic KUWAIT CITY, June 30: Employ- Also, there is a problem that most and the departure of hundreds of families ees of the Ministry of Communica- of the ministry’s facilities suffer from, from Kuwait, which hit badly the real es- tion suffer from deterioration of the and is almost forgotten - the canteens tate owners. buildings in which they work, as in the Ardiya, Mangaf and Umm Al- At least one third of the apartments in some of these buildings were built Hayman areas. After investment con- the various governorates are empty, which in the 1970s, and many among them tracts with the union workers in the has forced many residential property own- have not been restored or renovated ministry were canceled in 2007, they ers to reduce rents by 15 and 25 percent in for years in terms of the infrastruc- some areas, especially since most of the remained dormant until their image ture, air conditioning system or toi- distorted the general view, becoming owners have to commit to their obligations lets. Some lack proper offi ces, or to the banks. a landfi ll and source of foul odors. Commenting on the developments of have old furniture, and the dilapi- In the midst of these conditions the file of vacant apartments, Secretary of dated outer walls distort the general for the ministry’s buildings, the of- the Kuwaiti Real Estate Union, Qais Al- scenery of the area in which the fi cials of the Ministry of Communi- Ghanim, stated the increase in the number buildings are located, reports Al-Rai cations do not show any seriousness of vacant apartments is “a natural matter, daily. in collating information regarding the as a result of the state’s implementation of The daily conducted a tour to some buildings and land belonging to the the policy of adjusting the demographic of those buildings, as well as visited ministry in a bid to set up a develop- structure.” the old Jahra central switchboard, ment plan to benefi t from them. Such He explained the coming years will see which is located on the main market a plan is necessary for utilizing these more vacant apartments, especially since street next to the Jahra Cooperative facilities or investing in them by most of the expatriate workers who live Society. This building has been ne- with their families will leave for their home glected since the 1980s after the new selling or renting them. There is no Photo by Mohammad Morsi countries for vacation and most of them vision or design to establish a build- Minister Al-Shaya presiding over the meeting. switchboard was built. However, it will return without their families and this distorts the view of the commercial ing for the ministry that includes its is not only negatively reflected on the real area in Jahra, which has also ended scattered sectors in the governorates, estate market, but also on all other markets, up becoming a breeding ground for especially after the decision to evacu- Al-Shaya discusses ways to address waste problems including the foodstuffs, clothes and cars. stray animals and a garbage dumping ate the main ministry building in the Al-Ghanim said the Real Estate Owners site. Shuwaikh area for the General Ad- By Abdel Nasser Al-Aslami Committee Maha Al-Baghli and rep- During the tour the minister said Association does not exert any pressure on ministration of Customs. real estate owners, especially since each real There is also another building in Al-Seyassah Staff resentatives of the Ministry of Com- he is proud of the efforts and ser- Shuwaikh Industrial Area at its last Attention is directed to the Minis- merce and Kuwait Municipality dis- vices provided by the authority to estate owner has his own circumstances. ter of Public Works and Minister of Al-Ghanim stated that it is difficult to de- point where employees of the Depart- KUWAIT CITY, July 1: Minister of cussed the integrated system to deal protect the environment. ment of Telephone Networks at the State for Communications and In- with the current situation of waste of Meanwhile, the EPA responded termine the rate of decline in housing rents, Municipality and Minister of State but what can be mentioned is that the real es- Ministry of Communications work. It formation Technology Dr. Rana Al- for Housing and Urban Development all kinds in the country and to fi nd the to a report of falcon smuggling and tate market will continue to witness further is located in the middle of the garages Faris to restore the spirit of the joints Shaya Al-Shaya during a meeting best solutions. fungal organisms at sea, in coor- decline in the coming years with the contin- in the industrial area, and there is no of the ministry, and deal with the va- with the Director-General of Envi- Al-Shaya then toured the Envi- dination with the General Depart- uation of the policy of adjusting the demo- sign indicating the offi ce. cant, dilapidated and scattered land ronment Protection Authority (EPA) ronmental Data Department, where ment of the Coast Guard. graphic structure, indicating that the current It is a very dilapidated old build- and buildings in all the governorates, and Chairman of the Board of Direc- he was briefed on the Environmen- The report said many types of or- real estate market crisis forced a number of ing, despite its important role per- and in important commercial sites tors Sheikh Abdullah Al-Sabah and tal Control Information System ganisms were seized and care was landlords to submit some offers to attract formed by management personnel in whose land value reaches millions of member of the Municipal Council concerned with providing informa- provided for the falcons and then residents including a month or two for free, the design and distribution of the lan- dinars, something that can be consid- and Chairperson of the Environment tion and data. returned to their natural habitats. especially in the tenth district housing. dline telephone network nationwide. ered a waste of public money. MPW tender discussed CSC registers citizens for scholarship plan of ’21/22 KUWAIT CITY, June 30: The Civil Service Commis- sion (CSC) intends to address government agencies about the approved specialties of the plan for scholarships and academic vacations for the year 2021/2022, reports Al- Rai daily. Assistant Undersecretary for Scholarships and Man- power Registration Abeer Al-Duaij explained that CSC will address government agencies regarding the specializations required to be dispatched as scholar- ships and study vacations for holders of diplomas, bachelors, and postgraduate studies. CSC will deter- mine the number of seats for the agencies, and the fi- nancial allocations will be determined by the Ministry of Finance. The number of specializations approved for the year 2021/2022 varies from one agency to another. For example, 30 specializations have been identified for the Ministry of Health, and 15 for the Ministry of Social Affairs, based on the actual needs of the labor market. On June 11, CSC had opened the door for registration to citizens who wished to get recruited in the 75th ses- sion, for a period of two weeks. ❑ ❑ ❑ Water purification: Members of the Board of Directors of the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) re- cently discussed with representatives of the Ministry of Public Works the tender for the construction, operation and maintenance of the South Mutlaa water purifica- tion plant, which will serve Mutlaa area, reports Al-Rai daily. According to informed sources from the Ministry of Public Works, CAPT had requested the representatives of the ministry to give it sufficient time to study the min- istry’s technical report, which contained a recommenda- tion to qualify companies for the implementation of the project, in order to issue its decision regarding the afore- mentioned tender. The sources indicated that CAPT also studied the com- panies’ grievances that had been submitted to it after the closing date of the aforementioned tender.