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Kuwait set to build special towns for expat workers
The National Assembly in Kuwait has passed a draft law suggesting the government to establish public shareholding companies, responsible for building special towns for expatriate labourers, amidst requests by lawmakers to keep away the single labourers from family areas.
The law, which is yet to be established, stipulates the establishment of one or more public shareholding firms with 50 percent of their shares to be granted free of charge to Kuwaiti citizens on an equal basis.
The other 50percent of shares will be auctioned to firms listed in the Kuwait Stock Exchange. The labour towns will be built and operated by the companies on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) system.
The law proposes that the government establish these companies within six months of implementation of the law, and the government should also reveal the number of housing units to be built, and that it will not pay any rent.
Several MPs have sought for implementation of the law at the earliest, so that it would form an effective solution to problems faced by Kuwaiti families due to single expatriate labourers.
The MPs also called for stringent measures against visa traders. MP Faisal Al-Mislem said that the law will only solve a part of the problem, and the government needs to strike with an iron fist at visa traders.
The official figures in Kuwait confirm that there were about 2.35mn expatriates in Kuwait at the end of 2009, in comparison to 1.1mn Kuwaitis in 2008.
About 1.7mn of expatriates are workers, while 650,000 are dependants, which implies that majority of expatriates are single (either unmarried or have left families at home countries).
The assembly also approved amendments to 1993 housing law aiming to speed up the process of providing houses and land plots to Kuwaitis, as several citizens have even had to wait up to 15years to get a house.
The MPs also called on the government to speed up rehabilitation of new areas and distribute land to citizens, while others called for need to involve the private sector in the issue.
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