An estimated 200 percent rise in rent prices has prompted an exodus of government departments from Makkah's Al-Aziziyah District, once the choice location for official offices in the city. The Notary Public, Civil Defense, Al-Aziziyah Police Station, some Umm Al-Qura University facilities, the General Court, the District Court and other government departments have all moved out in recent times because of what Al-Shareef Mansour Abu Rayyash, the Real Estate Chairman at the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says has been a 200 percent rise in rents since the area became a Haj zone. “Many buildings in Al-Aziziyah have been vacated in order to accommodate pilgrims, while numerous residential towers and extensive hotels have been built for the same purpose. Al-Azizyah has now become part of the Central Zone, located as it is between the holy sites,” Abu Rayyash said. He added that move was also prompted by the lack of parking space for the public wishing to visit the government departments located there. “The central area is difficult to reach, especially during peak hours, due to the traffic jams,” said Ahmed Al-Hadhli, a member of the public. “People can't find anywhere to park nearby and so end up parking where they shouldn't and blocking the traffic.” “You can often see cars being towed away, and people are frequently fined,” Al-Hadhli said. “What few spaces there are, are given to the managers of the offices. We really need to find somewhere better, located centrally but with easy access to main roads and with large parking lots.” Abu Rayyash said that more suitable districts to house government offices would be Al-Shawqiyah, Al-Nuzla, Bathat Quraish, Al-Russaifa, Al-Faiha and areas near the ring road that provide easy access. Many offices have applied to be relocated to these areas, while some, such as the Civil Status Department, continue to seek elsewhere. Some members of the public have questioned the failure to benefit from municipality market areas which have not been rented out for up to 15 years, saying that the locations should instead be converted to allow the construction of health centers or government offices. Ibrahim Bin Nasser Al-Yami, a real estate dealer, estimates the amount of public money lost due to the failure to rent out buildings in Makkah to be more than SR15 million per year. “Over the last 20 years more than SR300 million has been spent on these empty buildings, a sum large enough to build numerous government and charity services in the city,” Al
