Saeed Al-Suraihi

Okaz

 

I DO not believe that the Shoura Council will approve a proposal presented by one of its members who suggested that the government build houses of various sizes and prices to sell to its employees through installments. The council's committee on housing, water and public services has already objected to the proposal.



The committee said the proposal conflicts with the government plan to construct 500,000 housing units for citizens in various parts of the Kingdom. It said the government simply cannot have two separate housing projects.



The committee also said the proposal is undermining the importance of loans to be offered by the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) to citizens to purchase land and construct houses. It said the establishment of a special committee proposed by the member to execute his proposal, would result in a duality of who is the final reference for housing projects in the Kingdom, especially after the approval of the mortgage system.



Though the committee has rejected the proposal for sound technical reasons, we will have to analyze the pattern of thinking that had enticed the member to make this proposal. The member has made the government responsible only for its employees, as if the other citizens not employed by the government are not real Saudi nationals and therefore should solve their own housing problems.



Accordingly, a citizen who is not a government employee should solve his problems himself without any help from the government. This is the same thinking that led to the salary increase for government employees alone, as if Saudi employees in the private sector are not real citizens.



It is not the government employees alone who are the citizens. All citizens who are employed by the government or the private sector or who are jobless should be treated equally.