The Cabinet has informed the Minister of State for Municipal Affairs and Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Dr Rana Al-Faris that the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources has rejected the Municipality’s request to supervise the cleaning works in Abdali, Al-Wafra and Kabd.
The authority’s letter indicated the meetings were held in coordination with the Kuwait Municipality regarding the study of the request submitted by it. At the meeting, the authority officials confirmed that the proposal was rejected for the following reasons:
1 – Violation of the municipality’s Law No. 33 of 2016 and provisions of Article No. 21, paragraph (c), which states: “The Municipal Council, within the framework of the state’s general structural plan and the approved budget, is responsible for the following issues, in the general population hygiene in accordance with the competencies established in the municipality.”
2 – The proposal regarding cleaning and collecting waste may entail other work, for example the allocation of waste collection places, methods of treatment and other technical matters that require the presence of technicians, materials and sites to carry out these works resulting from waste collection, which is not available at the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fisheries Resources.
3 – The competence of PAAAFR is the development of plant wealth. It does not have the necessary technical cadres or expertise to supervise the cleaning work, as it is an inherent competence of the municipality and it has the expertise and specialized technical cadres.
4 – The jurisdiction of the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources is within its boundaries only, while outside the boundaries the areas fall within the jurisdiction of the Municipality (the Safety Department, the Public Cleanliness Department, Road Works in the Municipality and other entities).
5 – The authority is responsible for monitoring agricultural products, ensuring their availability and controlling their transportation. It does not have the technical staff to place an additional burden on them, especially in the current circumstances.
6 – Recycling of all kinds of waste is not within the competence of PAAAFR and the authority does not have the technical capabilities or mechanisms to carry out these works.
7 – The expansion of farms’ areas, their continuous increase and their presence in multiple locations distributed in various regions, which leads to the addition of another supervisory role for the authority that does not fall within its jurisdiction.
8 – The priority of providing food security in the current period is its main concern in the current special global circumstances resulting from severe food shortages, and therefore the urgent priority in these circumstances is to work to develop wealth and food security of all kinds (vegetable, animal, fish).