Minister al-Athaina questions constitutionality of grilling

Minister of State for Housing Affairs and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Salem Al-Athaina took the podium of the National Assembly Tuesday evening to respond to the interpellation raised by MP Riyadh Al-Adsani. "The axes of the interpellation, relating to the high prices of land and the stalled housing projects, entail two points of contravention of the constitution; first, the political liability since the problem pertains to former ministries; and second, a minister's lack of jurisdiction over legislative activities," the minister argued. In response to the explanatory request No. 8 for 2004 of the articles 100 and 101 of the constitution, the Constitutional Court ruled on October 9, 2006, against the constitutionality of any interpellation relating to previous government actions, Al-Athaina recalled. "My appearance before you now means by no means acceptance of the inconsistencies in the interpellation. To the contrary, I meant to set forth the full truth," he said, citing articles 100, 101 and 131 of the constitution. On the accumulated applications for housing unities and the long waiting list, Al-Athaina said the matter dates back to years before he took office on August 4, 2013. The minister also disowned responsibility for the cancellation of Act 50 for 2010 which provided that the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) should make available within three years land suitable for constructing, not less than 10 new cities with 200,000 units each. Minister Al-Athaina challenged the constitutionality of the interpellation, saying: "The move is totally null and void since it runs counter to the stable rules of the constitution and sound parliamentary practices." Dealing with the long waiting period for the applicants, he said: "The problem, dating from the 80s, coupled with many causes that led to PAHW's inability to meet the demands of applicants." Al-Athaina noted that the private sector could play a supplementary role, besides the state, in developing state-owned land and solving the housing problem in the foreseeable future. "The suggestions, recently raised by some MPs for building a partnership between the public and private sectors, stopped PAHW's plans for finalizing the tenders for new housing projects pending the completion of parliamentary debates in this regard," he explained. Kuwait Municipality has delivered to PAHW 35,000 low-cost housing units in Khairan city, 21,000 units in Al-Multaa, and 50,000 units in Al-Sabiya, he pointed out. "After PAHW started launching two companies to develop the Khairan and the low-cost projects, feasibility studies showed that the two projects are financially unviable due to huge capital needed and limited return to cover PAHW's financial commitments to the developers of the two projects. "Therefore, Act No 50 for 2010 became an impediment to the launching of new cities until the then National Assembly was dissolved in November 2012," Al-Athaina added. "That legislation was amended by Act No 27 for 2012, adopted on November 23, 2012. The new legislation allows the state to cover the costs of the construction of infrastructure and public utilities in the new cities, thus allowing PAHW to resume contacts with local and foreign consultancy offices for launching the two companies," he went on. On the report of the State Audit Bureau on PAHW's irregularities, the minister said it covers financial year 2011-12, that is before he took office.