JEDDAH — Two thousand Saudis have filed lawsuits against Jeddah Municipality for allegedly displaying poor monitoring over the mechanisms used for issuing title deeds for lands, Al-Watan reported. In their lawsuits, the citizens alleged that the municipality allowed real estate tycoons to sell citizens pieces of lands that had been allocated for public use. The tycoons managed to change the title deeds for these lands, on which public facilities like parks were supposed to be built, into residential deeds so they could sell them for exorbitant prices, said the citizens' lawyer. Ehab Al-Sulaiman, lawyer and member of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), said: “The case is still being reviewed by the General Court. “The 2,000 citizens demand that all people involved in the case should be held accountable. “They are blaming the municipality for its lack of supervision and acceptance of corruption in its system.” Most of Jeddah's parks are being sold illegally to innocent citizens as residential areas, he said. Some corrupt investors would bribe municipality employees to issue them deeds for land allocated for public use. With the deed in their hands, investors can act freely under the legal system and con citizens into buying their properties. A source reported the first hearing of the case was scheduled for last month but was postponed due to the absence of the defendant, a representative from the municipality. The source also reported that the court has assigned the National Anti-Corruption Commission to look into cases of real estate thieves.
