Kuwait plans to implement KD15 billion ($51 billion) worth of housing and infrastructure projects by decade end, the public works minister has said.

Badr Al Humaidi told Reuters these include four planned new cities to house thousands of Kuwaitis, a major causeway across the Gulf and a linked motorway, and upgrade works on key ring roads around the capital and the country’s sewage network.
A regionally-competitive commercial seaport, including a free-trade zone to serve as a link for movement of goods from Asia to the Mediterranean and beyond, are also on the cards. “We have about KD15 billion in housing and infrastructure projects up to 2010,” Humaidi added.
Kuwait also plans to spend billions of dinars more on upgrading its lucrative energy sector.
He said four new cities are planned. They will be self-contained, with branches of government departments, health, education, sports, commercial and entertainment services.
These include Jaber City, where works have begun, Subiya which will be north of Kuwait City, Arifjan which will be 55 km (34 miles) south of the capital and Khairan further south. Jaber City will include 13,000 homes for up to 78,000 people and be ready by end 2007 while Khairan will have 26,000 housing units.
The minister said Kuwait has started the tender process for a 75-km (47-mile) motorway from the capital to the planned city of Subiya. International companies are also vying for a related project to build a 36-km causeway across the Gulf from Kuwait City to Subiya, costing up to KD500 million.