ShareKUWAIT: The Municipal Council, in its main session on Monday headed by Abdullah Al-Mehri, rejected a draft regulation for parking shades which stipulates a one-time fee of 500 fils for every squared meter of shade used. While deciding whether or not to impose fees on parking shades at private properties, the article ignited heated discussions between members of the municipality and the legal department in the executive branch due to a lack of a clear explanation regarding the article, which made it increasingly challenging to make a final vote.
Nine elected council members rejected the amendments, while the six appointed members abstained. Mehri said the suggested amendments to the article were riddled with mistakes but members have the right to reject or approve them. Council member Dr Hasan Kamal said approval of the amendment would lead to chaos.
The purpose of the proposed regulations, said Kamal, is to legislate control over the installation of parking shades, especially that some people randomly gate empty lots in commercial areas and use them for private purposes without obtaining the required permits, leaving the area without public parking spots. He said however that the amendments as they are currently drafted will wreak havoc.
The council had passed the regulations at first without ordering any fees, but previous Municipal Minister Rana Al-Fares demanded that money be collected for installing shades. The council then forwarded the draft regulation to the Council of Ministers, which approved the fee.
Municipal Council members this week were reportedly baffled as to why they were asked for feedback on a matter which has been decided by the Council of Ministers. Members had questions on who has the right to set fees and who decides the amount of the fee to be paid. The inquiries were forwarded to the executive and legal arms within the Municipal Council for further study.
In related news, the Council approved the request of the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy to allocate a site for a main electricity transmission station in the agricultural area of Wafra. The council kept a member’s question about the Kuwait Metro project and road studies to update the response from the executive body in the Kuwait Municipality. It was also satisfied with the response to a question about the development of entrances and exits of roads for the Jabriya area to King Fahd Road towards Kuwait City directly.
