JEDDAH, 25 November 2005 — People who have invested in the Manazel Al-Harmain project, which was canceled last year without any reason, will receive their money back within a month, a high official of the Al-Aqar Holding Company, owners of the project, told Arab News yesterday.
Aamer Siddiki, a Saudi banker who is one of the many people who had invested in the project in the early 2004, said that even after a court order he has been running from pillar to post since last year to get his money back.
Siddiki told Arab News he had bought two time-share units for SR35,000, facing the holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah.
The investment gives its holder a 10-day stay in each unit every year for a period of 20 years before it is handed back to the company, he said. Last year, he said, the company called him to cancel the contract. “They told me that they have canceled the project and sold both Makkah and Madinah lands, which is illegal because it did not have the consent of the investors.
“After I agreed to their terms, I was told that my refund would be due only after one month from the contract’s cancellation.” The month passed without any result. Siddiki then filed a lawsuit against the company and the court summoned them. “But they never showed up at the court,” he said.
He said that after the third court summon, the company sent their lawyer, Mahmoud Al-Khateeb, who offered on behalf of the company to pay only SR10,000 in installment.
Siddiki asked the court to re-open the case. Subsequently the court ordered the company to pay him SR52,940. “Until today, and despite the court’s order, the company didn’t pay me anything,” he said. Siddiki said that he would seek police help for the enforcement of the court order as a last resort.
On the other hand, Abdul Aziz Al-Husaini, general manager of the Al-Aqar Holding company, told Arab News they were working as fast as they could to refund money to the investors. “We have paid more than SR2 million to our clients during this year out of a total of SR3 million.”
He said: “All the remaining clients will get their money back before the end of this year’s Haj.” He said the project was canceled due to various problems including non-approval of designs in the Madinah-based land.
The land was then sold, he said, adding that they gained a 30 percent profit from the deal. About the international clients, he said, they were mostly from Kuwait and the UAE. He claimed that most of them were paid back and the rest were informed about the current situation.
