10,000 homes without title deeds get power

JEDDAH: The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has provided power to more than 10,000 houses here without title deeds in line with royal orders. Sources at the SEC quoted by a local publication said there are plans to provide a further 60,000 such homes in the city with electricity, according to a report in a local publication recently. Several people who own buildings and villas have now called on the municipality to ask the SEC to provide them also with electricity even if they are in arrears or have fines to pay. The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has previously ordered municipalities across the Kingdom to provide utilities, such as electricity connections, to all houses regardless of ownership status. Houses without title deeds and other ownership documents had previously been barred from having electricity connections. However, there would be no power provided for people who have homes built illegally on public land. The reports said that buildings should not have violated construction regulations. The ministry also made it clear that power connection to houses without deeds would not serve as proof of ownership. -Arab news