The citizens seized the land when they found out a major ring road would be passing through the area. They hoped the government would give them compensation when the land was redeveloped to carry out the project.

The land lies along the area allocated for establishing the fourth ring road, which will be constructed shortly in order to link north and south of Makkah.

Hassan Khankar, chairman of the Al-Umrah municipality, confirmed that some citizens had grabbed the land in the area after the announcement of new projects to be established in the area.

He said the committee for monitoring encroachments discovered the offense.

“We removed the encroachment on the directive of Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar,” he said.

Khankar emphasized the municipality’s resolve to launch a campaign against illegal possession of public land. “We’ll not tolerate such activities and will take back the land as quickly as possible.”

He urged Saudis to cooperate with the municipality to root out such encroachments on public land. “Citizens should monitor such illegal activities and inform the municipality,” he added.