Rashid Bin Mohammed Al-Fouzan Al-Riyadh The Ministry of Housing has so far kept quiet about the mechanism of distributing houses to deserving citizens. This mechanism has long been overdue and citizens have been waiting for it for a long time as many of the ministry's projects have been completed. In my personal opinion, the distribution mechanism should differentiate between government employees and others who do not have a regular source of income. A number of citizens who are not government or private sector employees may have other sources of income and if they were to be given houses, we would be depriving other, more deserving candidates. There is another group of citizens who are classified by the Ministry of Social Affairs as poor and needy. This category of citizens receives monthly assistance from the ministry so they are more worthy of the housing units. Another parameter which should be considered in formulating the mechanism is age. Citizens who are 45 or older should be given priority in the distribution of houses. People who have reached this age, whether they are government employees or not, may have large families who are in greater need of accommodation. If these people are given homes, they will be in a better position to face the rising cost of living. This category of citizens is more deserving than young men who have their whole lives in front of them. Another parameter which should be considered while formulating the distribution mechanism is the number of family members. The number of years citizens spend in waiting for a loan from the Real Estate Development Fund should also be considered. The longer any citizen has been waiting for a loan, the more priority he should be given. The mechanism of distributing houses may be difficult to formulate for the simple reason that the demand is greater than the supply. The ministry should also focus on small towns, villages and hamlets for the distribution of houses. This will reduce urban migration. Retirees, divorcees, widows, spinsters and the disabled should all be given priority in the distribution of houses.
