Kuwait suspends seven firms from housing projects after flooding

Kuwait’s minister of state for housing affairs and services said on Tuesday that one engineering office and six companies would be excluded from future tenders after their projects were damaged by heavy rainfall.

The country has seen extensive damage to roads and infrastructure linked to heavy rains and flooding in recent weeks, with government offices and banks forced to suspend operations on two separate days.

Read: Kuwaiti stock market, banks suspend work on Wednesday after floods

Operations at the country’s main airport were also suspended for a period last week due to the unstable weather.

Read: Update: Kuwait airport resumes operations after halting flights

Housing affairs minister Janan Bushehri said the ban from future housing projects came after an investigation into damage caused to infrastructure in the Sabah Al-Ahmad project area, according to state news agency KUNA.

This found the heavy rainfall had damaged projects undertaken by the companies.

As a result, the six companies implementing the infrastructure and engineering consultancy that designed the city they have been excluded from implementing new projects.

Authorities have promised to punish those found responsible for the heavy damage caused by bad weather across the country, with a government minister and transport official among those to lose their jobs.

Read: Kuwaiti PM says those affected by heavy rains will be compensated