JEDDAH, 21 January — A special committee set up by the Makkah Governorate authorized the demolition last Friday of a number of houses in Ajawed, a working-class district in south Jeddah. The houses were said to have been built illegally on land belonging to Al-Ain Al-Aziziya water authority.
However, residents of the 10 demolished buildings claim that the committee’s decision amounts to a violation of their civil rights, and they have produced ownership deeds that apparently prove they had bought the land legally from a real estate investor five years ago.
A source at the Jeddah municipal office insisted that the owners had built the houses without first gaining permission from the concerned government departments, and added that the municipality had no idea how electricity and water, which are officially supplied only to buildings which are built with official permission, had been connected in this instance.
A prominent businessman claimed that he had previously bought the land from Al-Ayn Al-Aziziah before selling it on to those who now find themselves without homes.
The latter have now appealed to the former owner of the land to come forward and persuade the committee not to carry out the demolition of the remaining buildings in the area. They are also demanding compensation both for their material loss and the mental stress caused by the municipal authority’s action.
Meanwhile, another committee set up by the government department in Qunfuda has authorized the demolition of seven old buildings in that city. They were situated in the districts of Balad, Shamiah and Mushrif.
According to Ibrahim Bahakeem, municipal engineer, they were demolished after municipal inspectors found that rainwater was forming stagnant pools where mosquitoes could breed.
Last year, a number of people died in Qunfuda reportedly from diseases spread by mosquitoes.
