RIYADH, 29 May 2008 — Sri Lanka will seek compensation from the Saudi government for the Ceylon House in Makkah, which is marked for demolition to make room for the expansion of the Grand Mosque. The three-story building had been endowed by a Sri Lankan organization to house poor pilgrims from the island nation.
“We are afraid that the compensation, if any, will go to the building’s caretaker who had made subtle claims of ownership to the property,” said Petroleum Minister Abdul Hameed Mohamed Fowzie, who is visiting the Kingdom at the head of a special Haj delegation.
Fowzie said that the title deed for the property, which has a total area of 1,000 square feet, is with the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh.
He added that the building was purchased for SR115,000 by the Colombo-based Sri Lankan Haj Pilgrims Welfare Trust in 1963. “This came after King Saud in 1960 granted permission to construct housing in Makkah for poor pilgrims from the island,” he said.
Fowzie said the building was put in the care of a Saudi individual and that Sri Lankan pilgrims were accommodated there during the Haj season over the decades. He added that the building had also been used as a Qur’an school for children in other months.
“Contrary to the intention of the trust and negating the purpose for which King Saud granted permission to purchase the property, the caretaker has now converted the building’s ground floor into a business showroom and has leased out two upper floors to a Bangladeshi national,” said Fowzie. He added that the caretaker had also been misappropriating the income from the building.
Fowzie said that the building had been marked for demolition and compensation would be paid accordingly. “I am going to request the foreign minister that the compensation must be paid to the property’s original owners, who were the members of the trust, which is now managed by the government through its mission in Riyadh,” he said.
Fowzie is expected to meet Minister for Culture and Information Iyad Madani and ask for an increase in the pilgrim quota for Sri Lanka. “There is a remarkable increase in the number of pilgrims this year,” the minister said.
Accompanying the ministerial delegation were Alavi Mowlana, the governor of Sri Lanka’s Western Province; Rismi Reyal, the leader of the Haj Travel Group and Managing Director of the Traveler, and Islamic Affairs Director Mohammed Ameer. Sri Lankan Ambassador Mohammed Ageed Mohamed Marlees and Consul General Abdul Lateef Mohamed Lafeer received the delegation on arrival at Jeddah airport on Monday.
