JEDDAH: The residents of Jeddah’s Al-Nuzlah district have created a Web forum to voice their complaints to higher authorities. They are concerned about a series of new development projects valued at SR25 million for which many will be forced to sell their properties for what they claim is inadequate compensation.

The Jeddah Municipality has signed a contract with the Jeddah Development and Urban Recreation Company to develop several nonzoned districts in the southern parts of the city, including Khuzam area, Al-Nuzlah, Al-Sabeel and Al-Qurayyat districts in addition to some parts of the downtown area.

The forum, www.nozla.com, talks about the “war against the municipality” and many issues related to the project that is going to force thousands of residents out of their homes. One of the forum’s participants talked about the municipality’s attempt to classify Al-Nuzlah as a nonzoned, illegally developed district (often referred to as “random neighborhoods” in the local Arabic press), which by law would diminish the amount of compensation paid to people whose properties would fall to eminent domain by which the government forces property owners to sell in order to develop the land for the public interest.

Yesterday, locals filed a complaint with the Municipal Council demanding more information about the details of the plan; how the municipality is determining the value of properties; and what alternative housing options will be provided — if any — to the residents displaced by the plan.

Residents have taken advantage of the online forum to express views many would probably keep to themselves in face-to-face meetings, including charges of corruption and graft that enriches a small number at the expense of the majority.

Nazeeh Mohammed, a resident of Al-Nuzlah, said, “Why didn't the municipality think of developing the area 30 years ago when it was much easier and not so populated? Now thousands of residents will become homeless if the area is taken away.”

Since many of these residents lack the deeds of the land that their houses are built on, the eminent domain compensation would be for an appraised amount based on the equity of the land, but excluding the value of the land itself. Some residents would be forced to sell their homes for little more than the price of a year’s rent in Jeddah. “It is a true catastrophe,” said Ammar Muhsin, a second-generation resident of Al-Nuzlah district. “Imagine thousands of people suddenly without houses. This will surely lead to increase in the prices of real estate.”

Locals reject the accusation that the areas in question are merely “random neighborhoods.” They cite the situation in the past when artists, writers and intellectuals lived in these districts. Hussien Jizawi, a resident of the area, said that not long before the project was announced publicly he noticed investors buying old houses in the area. “This means that some people knew about the project and wanted to make profits. The people of the district were the last to know and the last to benefit,” he said.