The Commission for the Development of Makkah, Madina and the Holy Sites has criticized the Shariah Rulings Auditing Board in Riyadh for taking 18 months and still failing to set a land price that would allow expropriated property owners to be compensated. Premises in Madina's Bab Al-Tammar District, located close to the Prophet's Mosque, had one square meter of land set at a value of between SR10,000 and SR15,000 by the Commission until the Administrative Court ruled early last year in favor of 15 land owners of expropriated properties seeking estimates reflecting property prices at the time the evacuation and expropriation order was issued four years ago, a figure closer to SR50,000 per square meter. The Shariah Rulings Auditing Board was then asked to provide a fresh estimate in the light of the area's historical significance. After a wait of over one and a half years, the legal representative of the land owners has said that the Commission has called upon the Auditing Board to produce its decision to allow compensation to be granted.
