JEDDAH: Some 200 people recently gathered in the village of Wadi Abu Ja’ala on the highway leading to Makkah in the south of Jeddah to protest a decision to disconnect electricity from their homes in order to drive them out.
Residents, who gathered early Saturday, were livid that their electricity had been cut. The Monitoring and Land Transgression Committee at the Jeddah Municipality made the decision to force “squatters” out.
“Around 200 people gathered here,” said local resident Mubarak Mansour. “We are angry that our homes are being demolished. Cutting power is unfair and not right — some of us have been living here for more than 60 years. There are mosques and a cemetery in this area. They can’t just demolish everything like that,” he added.
As crowds gathered, police were called in to protect municipality officials and Saudi Electric Company workers. Both parties claim they have decrees supporting them.
“The committee has the authorization to demolish these illegal houses,” said Samir Ba’sabrain, head of the Monitoring and Land Transgression Committee. “The municipality initially sent notices calling on residents to evacuate the homes — these notices are now long overdue. We asked those who feel they have real claims and rights to present their cases to the municipality,” he added.
Residents, however, feel their demands are not being met. “We want services. We want electricity and water in our homes. Roads need to be paved. Some of these houses don’t even have electricity,” said Saad Al-Qahtani, a local resident.
According to one senior resident, people have submitted their grievances in letters to Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Prince Naif and Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal.
“They come here to cut the power from our homes. We have families and children. We’ve been living in this area for so many years. The homes we live in, we own them and have rights. They have no right to do this,” said the resident.
“We ask the princes to look at our situation. We live here with our families and children. They want to demolish these houses on top of us,” he said.
Wadi Abu Ja’ala is considered an illegal and undeveloped area. According to local Arabic newspapers, the area is being considered for a new sports stadium. This is not the first time that the authorities have been sent to the area to evict residents.
“This land is being used for illegal activities,” said Ba’sabrain. “There are dynamic projects planned for this site that are important to Jeddah. These projects will be built in the coming years and require the cooperation of all parties.”
Residents on the other hand are intent on continuing to fight for their homes. “We’re currently waiting for the courts to solve our grievances,” said another resident.
