after the infamous mangaf fire, from which we seem to have forgotten the valuable lessons, the authorities, including the municipality and fi re brigade, took action.
they evacuated the basements of buildings designated as parking lots, cleared out the goods stored there, and removed violations related to basement storage in homes.
the sheer number of violations was overwhelming, compounded by a shortage of inspectors and the extreme heat. as a result, only minimal progress was made, and the issue of storage violations persisted, exacerbating the problems for merchants and companies who urgently needed storage spaces.
addressing the storage problem is akin to someone trying to eliminate mosquitoes by killing one here and another there -- an exercise in futility.
a more effective approach would be to fi ll in the swamps where mosquitoes breed. it is insufficient to merely fi ne building or house owners for renting out their basements for storage, especially when the income from such rentals is highly attractive.
what is needed is a swift response to the severe shortage of legal storage space, which continues to grow. when merchants have access to the storage space they need legally, they will be less likely to resort to illegal means.
for nearly twenty years, the government has continuously sought ways to address the vast areas of unexploited land it owns, but weak decision making has consistently hindered progress.
the most recent attempt was in 2007, when high level government decisions were made during the national assembly recess to establish a company for public warehouses.
however, confusion and suspicions surrounding its establishment and those behind it led the government to cancel the entire idea, leaving the deteriorating situation unchanged.
in 2012, the council of ministers issued a decision to form a “storage space provision committee.” this committee’s mission was to inventory the vouchers allocated to various government agencies, reclaim these spaces, and equip them for storage activities.
additionally, the committee was to coordinate with the ministry of commerce and the chamber of commerce to assess the actual needs for storage space.
none of these decisions were implemented, even after twelve years, and the problem continued to worsen, with rents continuing to rise. the government remains indecisive about choosing between several alternatives such as:
identifying the lands and handing over their management to the industry authority; assigning the ministry of commerce to manage them, establishing a public joint-stock company to manage them, establishing a joint commercial entity -- private and governmental -- to manage the storage areas.
this indecision has perpetuated the problem, with worsening conditions, louder complaints from merchants, and rising prices of various goods and services.
regardless of the government’s eventual decision on managing the millions of square meters available for storage, it will take time to implement, and determining the rental value will take even longer.
the government faces a difficult choice regarding rental values: either increase state revenues by raising rental values, which will lead to significant price inflation as suppliers pass on the increased costs to consumers, or keep rental increases reasonable to avoid harming citizens indirectly and prevent inflation.
our recommendation is to hand over the management of the new storage areas to specialized companies, both new and existing, through public bidding and strict exploitation contracts. it is important to note that the previous experience of the public authority industry in this field was not successful, possibly due to weak contract formulations and inadequate administrative control.
                                                                                                              * * *
this article came about due to the “absence” of the body that represents merchants and industrialists, six months ago. kuwait may be the only country where this important group has no one to represent it and defend its legitimate issues!