Owners of Makkah expropriated properties to get SR 133 billion

The compensation to owners of expropriated properties within the Grand Mosque northern courtyards’ expansion project is estimated at SR 133 billion. Of this, SR 50 billion have been disbursed. Compensation is estimated on the basis of the property's proximity to the mosque. The highest compensation rate was for properties in Harat Albab where a square meter reached SR 450,000 in some areas. Abbas bin Abdulghani Qattan, supervisor general of the Committee on Development of Northern Courtyards and Major Projects at Makkah Municipality, told a local newspaper that compensation for some properties had remained unpaid because of title deeds issues that are being settled in courts. “The compensations paid during the first phase of the expansion project reached SR 40 billion,” Qattan said. “The second, third and fourth stages are expected to witness disbursements of SR 30 billion, SR 30 billion and SR 33 billion, respectively,” he said. “Owners of 200 properties are unknown and no one claimed them.” There is a regulation for old properties owned by non-Saudis or entities such as endowments. If the foreign owner is abroad, compensation will be paid with 20 percent of its value deducted and deposited in the state treasury, he said. There will be three train stations around the Grand Mosque. Railway tracks will be underground in some areas and on the surface in others, he said. Qattan said the last stage of the expansion project includes train stations and courtyards. This stage covers Shaab Amer area and parts of Almasfala and Jarwal districts, where properties were expropriated and will be removed. “Saudi Binladin Company has started working on road and tunnel project modifications to cope with the expansion,” he said. “More than 1,600 properties were expropriated and 614 of them were removed during this stage that was approved a year ago. Two weeks from now we will start demolition works in Almasfala.” Some owners are not satisfied with the estimation of their properties’ value and some filed cases with the Administrative Court that reportedly issued verdicts stipulating reassessment. “I received no notes about re-estimating properties,” Qattan said. “When we determined the compensation five years ago there were no complaints, but now the owners of some properties, whose prices have increased as a result of the removal of other properties between them and the Grand Mosque, are demanding a higher compensation because their buildings are now overlooking the mosque.” However, he said the basis for pricing properties will remain unchanged. Arab News