RIYADH —
Saudi Arabia has begun compensating residents who lost property to a massive
redevelopment project in the coastal
city of Jeddah that has spurred rare
expressions of public anger, state media said.
اضافة اعلان
“The delivery of
the first batch of compensation for the removed properties has begun,” the
official Saudi Press Agency said in a report late Sunday, though it did not
specify how many people had been compensated so far.
It said 1 billion
Saudi riyals ($267 million) would be distributed as part of the “first batch of
compensation”, without providing a timeline or indicating when future payouts
might occur.
Authorities have
pitched the clearance and construction work in Jeddah, the kingdom’s
second-largest city, as the latest ambitious project of
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, one that will replace “slums” with amenities like a stadium, an
oceanarium and an opera house.
Yet some who have
lost homes have bristled at official descriptions of their old neighborhoods as
undesirable hotbeds of drugs and crime.
They have also
voiced concern about how compensation will work, telling AFP earlier this year
that there was no clear way to assess the value of property that is already
destroyed.
Demolitions
The demolitions began last October and stand to displace up to half a
million people.
Evicted residents
had been living in their homes for up to 60 years, according to a survey
published in April by ALQST for Human Rights, a non-government group.
The survey found
some residents had not received clear information on how to claim compensation,
or even been told it was available.
Appraisals are
being carried out by “independent committees” representing four government
agencies, SPA said Sunday.
Jeddah — often
referred to as the “Gateway to
Mecca”, Islam’s holiest city — is a lively
tourist hub of beachfront restaurants and galleries that has in past months
hosted a major film festival and a Formula One Grand Prix.
The demolitions
risk fuelling anti-government sentiment in the 32 neighborhoods affected, many
of which housed a mix of Saudis and foreigners from other Arab countries and
Asia.
So far, 20
neighborhoods have been cleared, SPA said, and the process of clearing the
remaining 12 will be completed by mid-November.
The
Saudi government has promised to provide compensation and announced in February it
would complete 5,000 replacement housing units by the end of the year.
Officials defend
the project, saying it will modernize the city and add 17,000 new residential
units, while retaining its character.
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