Four government agencies have come together to exchange data to verify claims to land plots and properties prior to their referral to the Ministry of Justice.

The initiative comes amid concerted efforts to hunt down encroachers of government land.

According to local media reports, the Ministries of Interior and Justice, municipalities and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) will monitor the names of people who have been repeatedly making claims to government land and have their names blacklisted and referred to the Ministries of Interior and Justice. Strict action will be taken against encroachers, which will include referring to past land transactions, ascertaining the legality of documents and distributing a list of encroachers to regional municipalities and land infringement committees to look into the possibility of seeking compensation for undocumented parcels of land, sources told a local daily.

Minister of Justice Mohamed Al-Eisa has issued a circular to courts whereby Nazaha inspectors will be allowed to look into documents related to land owned by the government so that they could easily verify encroachments reported on such land, the sources said. The Shoura Council recently passed a law on the control and protection of government land and the removal of encroachments on such land. The law stipulates that an intruder be fined SR10,000 for the first time and SR20,000 and SR40,000 for second and third-time offenses.