Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Administration Waleed Al-Masri stated on Tuesday that there is no intention to employ specialized private companies to collect municipal fees and dues from citizens. He explained that the draft Local Administration Law allows contractors or operators to collect and remit revenues from projects they manage directly to the municipalities.
اضافة اعلان
Al-Masri's remarks came during a House of Representatives session dedicated to discussing the draft Local Administration Law of 2026, responding to parliamentary debates on Article 18, which addresses municipal financial resources and revenue collection mechanisms.
He pointed out that municipalities currently do not directly collect certain funds, citing traffic fines collected electronically, waste management fees, and central market revenues, which contractors can collect on behalf of the municipality.
He added that enabling this mechanism aligns with private-sector partnerships. For example, if a municipality builds a slaughterhouse in partnership with the private sector, the contractor or operator managing the project can collect fees and remit the municipality’s agreed-upon share.
Al-Masri noted other instances where municipalities do not handle fee collection directly, such as fees linked to burial sites and cemeteries. He stressed that the text is "not intended to delegate fund collection to specialized companies," but rather applies to municipal projects entrusted to contractors or operators who collect project revenues and transfer due funds to the municipality.
For his part, Head of the Parliamentary Administrative Committee MP Khalifah Al-Diat confirmed that the article does not target the collection of routine civic fees through contractors, emphasizing that standard fees will continue to be processed through municipal staff.
Al-Diat added that under the draft law, municipalities are set to expand investment and asset utilization, including waste-sector investments and joint projects that may require contracting management out to private operators.
He emphasized that retaining the clause as drafted provides municipalities with the flexibility to expand future development and investment initiatives, noting the committee's approval of the article as presented.
Article 18 of the draft law specifies that municipal financial resources consist of taxes, fees, levies, and charges imposed under legislation, returns on investment projects, self-generated revenues, as well as grants and donations—subject to Cabinet approval if sourced internationally.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives continued its review of the 2026 Local Administration Law starting from Article 13, having approved 12 of the bill's 70 articles on Monday.
