A sign on buildings in Ajawad District in east Jeddah that reads “Set for demolition, see us in a week's time,” created a rift between the owners and Jeddah Municipality Wednesday. The municipality asked the residents to evacuate illegally owned houses which have allegedly been built on a land originally owned by the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Finance is said to hold an official title of ownership of a total area of 7 million sq. meters including the neighborhood on which the buildings in question were built. Over 400 residents gathered Wednesday at the Briman Municipality protesting the evacuation notice of their own houses before they were given a chance to present proof of ownership. The neighborhood is believed to be the home to 5,000 people. The evacuation notices are a hasty mistake committed by the committee, comprised of Jeddah Mayoralty, the Police, and the Governorate, charged with dismantling illegally owned buildings in the neighborhood, said Nasser Al-Miteb, head of Briman Municiaplity. Al-Miteb told the residents that the committee is only listing the buildings which are not legally owned and a report on the case will be submitted to higher authorities to make a decision. The committee has given the residents a grace period of a week starting Wednesday to present official titles of ownership of their land plots or else immediately evacuate. The committee has also demanded recent power and water bills to be submitted along with the official titles of ownership. The decision of the committee has come to prepare the area for mega development projects within the next few years including the new dump site. “It cost me over SR700,000 to build my house and they want me to get out of it now,” said Attiya Al-Sumairi. “Many residents have legal titles of ownership, some still have pending cases with the court,” he said. “It is strange to talk about the ownership of the Ministry of Finance of this neighborhood now,” said Mutlaq Al-Mutairi, who lives with his sons and grandchildren in his own apartment building in the questioned neighborhood. “The border markers of the alleged land of the Ministry of Finance are at least four km away from the neighborhood,” he said. It has even been fenced for years, he said. Al-Mutairi holds a legal title of the land issued by a General Court and endorsed by the Court of Cassation. “There are hundreds of legal owners like me,” he said.
