Finance Ministry denies report about property compensation

An official source at the Ministry of Finance has denied a recent local daily report about details of properties that are expected to be expropriated to make way for the expansion of the Prophet’s Mosque.
The source told the Saudi Press Agency: “The report contained inaccurate information concerning the number of real estates, their area, timing of removal, price per square meter and total value of compensation.”
According to the source, the newspaper carried incorrect information.
“This may lead some real estate owners to take decisions on the basis of false information.”
He added the ministry would announce in detail later all steps taken to implement the expansion project.
The spokesman was referring to a recent local newspaper report about the expected removal of several buildings on the eastern and western courtyards of the mosque.
These include the old maternity hospital, Hotel Dallah, Hotel Dakheel, the Ashqi building, the No. 2 endowment building said to be the oldest building in the area, Al-Muhammadiah endowment, King Abdul Aziz Library building, new Haram souks and a number of famous hotels.
The newspaper also reported authorities have started procedures to appraise the value of nearly 100 properties that will be expropriated for the expansion.
Payment of compensation for owners of these properties are expected to be completed before Haj, paving the way for construction work to start immediately after the Haj season, the report claimed.
It is estimated properties on a total area of 12.5 hectares of land will be expropriated after payment of compensation worth SR 25 billion.
Compensation per square meter is fixed at SR 400,000, the report added.
The newspaper published the report following Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf’s announcement last week that King Abdullah had ordered the expansion of the mosque.