Abdu Khal Okaz newspaper Since the establishment of the General Authority for Housing in 2007, everybody has been anxiously waiting to see its accomplishments or if it has achieved the objectives for which it was created. The main objectives behind the establishment of the authority were to provide suitable housing to citizens and to increase the number of Saudis who own homes. Achieving these objectives would no doubt create huge investment opportunities in the real estate sector and related industries. Due to the significance of these objectives, the authority was upgraded to a fully-fledged ministry. A royal decree asked the ministry to build 500,000 housing units and gave it SR250 billion to implement the project. We are still waiting for this project to be executed as the ministry has yet to draft a timetable for the project's implementation. With news stories being published on a fairly regular basis on delays in implementing public works projects, one would think the Ministry of Housing would come out and tell us what the status of its projects are but this has not been the case. The ministry did not give any reasons for the delays even though it knows there is a huge housing shortage in the Kingdom's major cities, which has contributed to skyrocketing rents. Occasionally, the ministry cites unavailability of land as an excuse for the delays. The ministry should not let this impede the implementation of its projects and it should instead use the funds it has to purchase land and build houses on it. If this is not possible, it should build houses on the outskirts of cities and link them to the electricity grid. Whatever it chooses to do, the important thing is that housing units should be constructed at all costs. Also, why are municipal councils, which are supposed to represent the people, remaining silent on the issue? They have not said anything about the construction contracts they have signed and whether they are sufficient to solve the housing problem. I hope the ministry provides honest answers on its progress so we can judge how successful it has been so far.
