Badea Abu Al-Naja Saudi Gazette MAKKAH — Al-Umrah Municipality has intervened to stop the illegal sale of plots of land in an undeveloped city in northern Makkah. Luay Jamal Ashour, head of the municipality, said supervisors of the local authority's encroachments committee were able to identify an area that had been illegally claimed. The encroachers were selling pieces of land to citizens using illegal methods. The supervisors stopped the sales and informed the citizens that the location was encroached upon. Ashour said those marketing the plots of land would be prosecuted. Also, the machinery used in the building was towed away after several workers fled from the site. Ashour said municipality personnel and supervisors faced difficulty in discouraging violators from continuing their work but continued regardless. He said the municipality would not be lenient in carrying out its duty in razing any encroachments on public-owned land. The municipality appealed to citizens not to purchase illegal plots of land. Ashour stressed that directives have been issued to monitor these violations and raze encroachments on government land. He said supervision of all districts and planned residential districts will be intensified to prevent this practice.
