A private company specialized in organizing polls will be the one to carry out this two-week survey.
This committee consisting of MPs and ministers will work in cooperation with both the parliament and government, which will simplify the parliament’s work and lead to more achievements and help pass laws, necessary for the development and construction process.
Kuwait Times asked Kuwaitis of different ages for their opinion on the three most important issues they would like the parliament to address first. The housing issue ranks on top of 29-yearold Fatma’s priorities.
“The housing issue is critical in Kuwait and all of us suffer. Kuwaiti women are oppressed in this issue. I think a Kuwaiti woman who doesn’t have a house or is married to a non-Kuwaiti should be entitled to get a house.
My second priority is to naturalize the children of Kuwaiti mothers married to non- Kuwaitis. These children already have this right but we want the authorities to apply the law.
Finally, my third priority is to build new hospitals to suit the current situation and treat the high number of patients,” she told the Kuwait Times. Eisa Al-Mutar, a 25-year-old employee agrees with Fatma that the housing issue is the most important priority for citizens. “Housing is the first priority for many young Kuwaitis, including myself.
The government should decrease the price of lands so the citizens can manage to build their house instead of waiting for many years for their turn to receive a house.
The government should also open more areas to become residential areas to relieve further pressure.
Employment is the second priority. We need to employ Kuwaitis according to their qualification. For instance, I graduated in economy but they listed my name in the Ministry of Health, then to the Customs Department and finally to the Ministry of Finance.
There shouldn’t be wasta in employing. And finally, for cooperation between the parliament and the government, to divide the wealth equally between citizens and solve all issues would be my third priority,” he pointed out. 30-year-old Salah Al-Hatem praised the initiative of the parliament to hold this opinion poll.
“It’s a good step. I consider the ‘multimillion deposits case’ my first priority. We want to find out the culprits and make sure they are punished,” he said. His second priority would be to review the system of polling with one vote.
“This issue caused many problems in the country and it should be definitely solved. This parliament is better than the previous ones and represents the nation well, though I didn’t vote,” added Al- Hatem.
The housing issue is his third priority. “My mom gave me KD 500,000 to buy a house and I didn’t find any other place than Bu Ftaira, which is still a desert. I found a land measuring 400 square meters for KD 260,000 and its price was KD 70,000 just two years back, when my friend bought one.
So I need the rest of the amount to build the house which will cost about half a million by the end. About 10 years ago, a 750- square meter land in Rawda cost KD 185, and today the price has multiplied many times more. It’s impossible for a normal employee to buy a house in most of the current residential areas,” he concluded.
45-year-old Manal thinks the health issue is the most important priority. “My first priority is to build new hospitals as all public hospitals are crowded all the time.
We also need more professional doctors as the currently available ones are not up to the mark. My second priority is to build new public universities as we are facing a problem every year with the rising number of fresh graduates since we have only one public university for 50 years now. Finally, the third priority is to solve the traffic problem. We need to developroads which is the most important part of the traffic problem,” she said.
