Saudi Gazette report TABUK – Encroachment on private and public land has increased with nearly daily reports in the local media of authorities' efforts to reclaim encroached land and prosecute land encroachers. Real estate experts have said in order to put an end to the practice, stricter penalties need to be imposed on encroachers, Al-Riyadh daily reported. Experts also said naming and shaming encroachers in the media can go a long way in curtailing the practice and protecting the public and private rights of land owners. Ministry of Justice spokesman Mansour Al-Qifari was quoted as saying that the ministry would enforce, without delay, the judgments issued by courts in favor of revoking illegal title deeds. Appellate courts in the Kingdom look into cases related to title deeds that have been issued illegally. Recently, the Court of Appeals in Tabuk canceled a title deed for a government land covering an area of 350,000 square meters, which had been issued by a notary public office in the city. Citizen Abdullah Al-Bogami said some people take advantage of the lack of monitoring and encroach upon plots of land before selling them on to unsuspecting buyers. He called upon municipalities Kingdomwide to appoint more inspectors and impose stricter penalties to curtail, if not eradicate, the practice. Citizen Saud Al-Thebaiti agreed with Al-Bogami and described land encroachment as a dangerous and thorny issue, reflecting poor morals and ethics on the part of encroachers. “In the Shariah, it's haram (prohibited) to take what is not yours. But it seems that many people no longer observe this rule because of poor monitoring from authorities. Most disputes arising out of this practice are resolved amicably and this is the reason why encroachers do not consider it morally wrong to seize someone's land. Stricter laws should be in place to end this practice,” he said. According to lawyer Mastoor Al-Sulami, the best remedy to end land encroachment violations is to name and shame violators in the media. This should take place in tandem with stricter penalties that should be handed down by a court of law. “We need to have such penalties to make land encroachers think twice before committing such violation. Besides, we need to protect the rights and interests of real estate investors,” he said. Lawyer Abdulkarim Al-Qadhi said building a structure on a plot of land owned by someone else is a flagrant trespassing upon the property of others. "This is totally impermissible in the Shariah," he said. Dr. Yehya Al-Themali, dean of the Shariah School, Taif University, agreed that it is an impermissible act that brings about corruption in society. “Letting the violators getting away with it or imposing a light punishment on them encourages others to follow in their steps. Everyone should respect the laws on land encroachments,” Dr. Al-Themali said. Ismail Ibrahim, Taif Municipality spokesman, spoke of the negative impacts of land encroachment, noting that the number of unplanned areas has increased because of people who erect structures on people's land or on government plots. He warned violators that the municipality would take drastic action against them and hold them accountable. “Anyone who applies for a construction license will not be issued one until inspectors have visited the site and ensured that there is not any encroachment. Our inspectors work hard to stop such violations,” he said.
