MADINAH, 11 July 2006 — As the real estate market booms in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, agricultural land is gradually disappearing from within the limits of these once-pastoral cities as farmers discover that selling the land for development is more lucrative than selling dates. The only problem is: It’s illegal.
The law in Saudi Arabia prevents land producing agricultural products, such as dates, from being razed to make way for building projects. So some farmers have taken to making the viable unviable by starving trees of water, or burning trees in the middle of the night. Once the crops are dead, the land can then be legally sold to developers.
These landowners earn millions of riyals by selling land, putting aside the environmental impact from losing the trees. In a city where average daily temperatures can sustain 45 degrees Celsius (113F) for a good part of the year, green areas offer some respite from the heat.
Abdul Rahman Abdul Aal, a resident of Madinah’s Gurban neighborhood, complained recently to municipal officials about numerous cases of farms being burned. He said that the problem was raised in local newspapers.
“The burning stopped for a while but it started again, albeit less than before,” he said. “It is sad that the farms in the middle of Madinah which made the city unique are now disappearing because of greed.”
For their part, farmers dismiss suggestions that they’re being greedy. They claim that it’s a simple matter of economics.
Arab News met with a former date farmer near Qiblatin Mosque. His plot no longer produces the fruit ubiquitous in Saudi Arabia. Instead, the trees were dead, ready to be cleared to make room for yet another residential unit of Madinah’s current real estate boom.
Instead of burning the trees, the farmer simply stopped watering them, saying it cost more to keep them alive than the money he was making from selling the dates they produced.
“There were problems (with farming), like lack of water,” said the farmer, who did not want to be named. Another farm owner admitted that he stopped tending to his crop and is preparing to sell the land.
“A farm needs a lot of care and attention. That costs a lot of money,” said another date farmer in Madinah’s Al-Shuhada neighborhood.
The municipal authorities are encouraging people to respect the diminishing urban green zones. No statistics were available from government officials regarding the undeveloped land in Makkah or Madinah, but a recent awareness campaign launched by the Madinah municipality indicates that officials are concerned about the depletion of urban green areas.
