Kuwait fast-tracks land for food supply centers

The Council of Ministers has tasked Kuwait Municipality with expediting the allocation of lands to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for constructing multi-storey buildings as points of sale and distribution for subsidized food supplies.

The ministry will oversee management, organization, supervision, and control, with each land area ranging from 500 to 1000 square meters for short-term storage purposes in residential zones.

In its meeting held on March 11, the council reviewed the recommendation from the Public Services Committee’s meeting minutes and the letter from the Government Performance Monitoring Agency, which included a report on providing strategic storage areas for establishing stores and warehouses for food and other storage purposes.

The committee reviewed the visual presentation presented by representatives of the Government Performance Monitoring Agency in this regard, highlighting the following prominent points:

• Regarding the establishment of a closed government joint-stock company to manage and operate public storage spaces for food, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and others.
• The Kuwait Storage Company was established on September 3, 2023, and procedures for forming the Board of Directors and convening the Constituent Assembly are currently underway.

Lands have been allocated to the Kuwaiti Company for storage as per the decision of the Municipal Council. These lands include:

1. Shuwaikh Industrial Area, comprising plots (65, 66, 69, 70) with a total area of 90 thousand square meters.
2. Port Abdullah area, comprising plots (6, 8, 36), with a total area of 597 thousand square meters, all of which are vacant land.
3. The Doha Port area, totaling 554 thousand square meters of vacant land.
4. Al-Shaddadiya area, covering 1,119,000 square meters of vacant land.
5. Land in the vicinity of Kuwait International Airport, measuring 20 thousand square meters.

The ministry highlighted that concerning the airport land, on February 11, the agency requested the Authority to promptly decide on selecting one of the sites proposed by the General Administration of Civil Aviation for the Kuwait Storage Company, similar to the previously selected lands.

The agency received a response from the General Investment Authority, stating that the process had been completed. It then addressed the General Administration of Civil Aviation to allocate the proposed land, spanning 30,000 square meters, in the Air Cargo City.

The agency stated that concerning the logistical city projects under the Kuwait Ports Authority, it received a letter on September 21, 2023, from the Minister of Municipality, stating that the contract work had been suspended for 120 days from August 22, 2023, to address observations and shortcomings in the study.

The agency was also informed that the Central Bank for Public Tenders and the State Audit Bureau had suspended work related to this study. On January 10, 2024, the agency received an updated, non-final copy of the study, which did not address all the observations.

The Kuwait Ports Authority is expected to provide the agency with the updated version after a month, and as of now, the agency has not received the final study.

Flour Mills

The agency explained that the projects of the Kuwait Flour Mills and Bakeries Company are as follows:

1. The Shuwaikh Land Warehouses Project (formerly Shubra Al Khadhar): The project has been delayed beyond the planned schedule as it is still in the design phase and obtaining the necessary licenses. The planned date for starting the implementation phase is the end of the third quarter of 2023.
2. Short-term Silos Project – Iron Silos (Shuwaikh land): The project is also behind the planned schedule as it is still in the design phase and obtaining the necessary licenses. The planned date to start the implementation phase is the fourth quarter of 2023.
3. The Concrete Silos Project (Shuwaikh Port land): This project is in the design and licensing phase, with the planned completion of this phase in the first quarter of 2024.

The demolition and construction project of Silo 82 (Shuwaikh Port land) is still in the design and licensing phase, with plans to complete this phase in the second quarter of 2024.

Kuwaiti catering

The agency discussed the projects of the Kuwait Supply Company, specifically the second storage area project (Block 1). The company notified the agency through a letter that the tender for project implementation was initiated in November, with project documents being delivered to tender participants. The deadline for receiving offers is set for January 30, 2024.