Adnan Al-Shabrawi Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Citizens are complaining of bureaucratic bottlenecks in the Ministry of Justice and the Jeddah municipality that delay the handover of 86 pieces of land granted to them. Instructions were issued to implement the recommendations of a high ministerial committee to issue the deed to the owners. Prince Mansour Bin Miteb, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, directed a review of the case, as the Jeddah municipality claimed the existence of another deed. In a related case, the Jeddah court recorded a large number title claims in land encroachments. A claimant charged that courts are extremely slow in hearing their cases, especially since the entire legal proceedings are complete. The claimants are refusing to be refunded the amount they paid 30 years ago, since the land value has increased tenfold, while the heirs claim no responsibility for real estate transactions made by their fathers on properties they did not own. Despite the encroachment claims, citizens continued paying their bank installments, but upon completing the payments, they were refused title deeds due to encroachment claims. Real estate cases take long time in the courts due to many conflicting claims, and the need to verify the original deeds with the Ministry of Justice. Encroachment cases have become widespread lately, causing the suspension of issuing deeds and causing the claimants huge losses. Deputy Justice Minister Abdullateef Al-Harthy said a new system was being applied in stages, which will limit the duplicate claims on real estate and encroachment of government land. Meanwhile, a study conducted by Abdulrahman Al-Husaini, a Supreme Court judge, revealed conflict of interest between the municipality and the Ain Al-Aziziyah endowment to the rightful ownership of certain real estate in the city. The study pointed out that the Jeddah notary had dealt with the sale of land owned by Ain Al-Aziziyah. However, after many irregularities came to light, including the sale of large areas and the selling of the same plot to many people, courts were assigned to handle the sale. The study concluded that land owned by Ain Al-Aziziyah are actually endowments, and therefore cannot be sold nor exchanged except under certain controls and regulations, and with the permission of the ruler. The study also recommended the issuing of an ownership deed of Ain Al-Aziziyah possessions, especially for investing purposes, or for transfer of ownership.
