A man caused outrage by felling 20 trees in a public park in Al-Samer District, Al-Madinah newspaper reported. Adnan Abdullatif, a resident of Al-Samer, said the people were shocked when one man took a decision to cut down 20 trees in piece of land next to a public park last week. The land belonged to the municipality. "We confronted him about his action, but he claimed he had purchased the plot. How could anyone buy public property?" said Abdullatif. Saadi Ghurmallah said the piece of land has been a part of the public park for 15 years. "That piece of land he claimed to have bought was used as a soccer field for children. How could a public directorate grant him property deed over public land? We had asked the municipality to plant trees in the area around 20 years ago and the municipality said it did not have the budget. The people of the district volunteered and paid from their own pockets to plant trees and turn it to what it is today," said Ghurmallah. Rizqallah Al-Silmy said the public park was built by the municipality with support from the people of the district. "We collectively spent around SR30,000 to SR60,000 in maintaining our park. We even have the blueprint of the park and the piece of land in question belongs to the park. The park is situated in the middle of a residential area and is convenient for everyone. To have someone transgress on such a cherished public property like that is heart-breaking," said Al-Silmy. He said he was not sure whether what happened was the fault of the previous owner of the plot or a public department or the local municipality branch. Hasan Al-Eshy said the streetlamps of the entire district were not working for the past four months. "When we complained about the streetlamps to the municipality, they told us that the man who bought the piece of land in question had requested the municipality to shift the main power generator elsewhere because the plot belonged to him," said Al-Eshy. The imam of a mosque in Al-Samer said he had requested from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs on behalf of the people of the district to expand the mosque but his request was declined. "When the Ministry of Islamic Affairs declined my request to expand the mosque by 2,000 sq. meters I went to the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and they also declined my request. How could a private individual take over a piece of public land to serve his personal interests," said the imam.
