ABHA — Land owners and the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs have been engaged in a war of words over the sale of unplanned districts in Asir province. Land owners blame the municipality for hindering the sale of plots in these districts by not issuing licenses on time while the ministry says land owners are not abiding by the conditions it has set and accused them of leaving over a quarter of their land vacant to push real estate prices up. Citizen Muhammad Al-Qarni said the sale of land in unplanned districts has spread due to the greed of real estate dealers who constantly increase prices. “Citizens with low incomes have no choice but to pay the high prices to realize their dreams of owning a home. There are problems in the planned districts approved by the municipality as well because not all utilities are available. There are other issues related to poor planning,” he said. “The solution is better urban planning for cities like Asir. Experts in urban planning and surveying should be tasked with the planning of these plots of lands,” he added. Fellow citizen Saleh Al-Qahtani said many people cannot afford to buy land in planned districts so they resort to buying cheaper land in unplanned districts in the hope that the government will grant title deeds and provide utility services. He urged the authorities to increase supervision of land deals and do more to help citizens in need of land. Misfir Al-Wadei, head of the Khamis Mushayt Municipality, said the phenomenon of selling land in unplanned districts has become quite noticeable in Asir. Directives have been issued by the Emir of Asir and according to the orders of the Ministry of Interior, a committee comprising representatives of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the Asir governorate has been set up. Furthermore, he said a report on more than 45 unplanned districts in Khamis Mushayt has been referred to the concerned authorities. “Information was gathered on the unplanned districts. A report has been submitted to the Khamis Mushayt governor and letters calling on owners of these plots of land to appear and present any legal documents proving their ownership have been sent. The matter is still under investigation by the committee and no decision has been taken yet,” he said. Al-Wadei clarified that the owners of land in any unplanned district have no right to divide it into smaller plots unless necessary approval from the municipality is obtained. Speaking of difficulties in obtaining a license for unplanned districts, Al-Wadei said long procedures and scrutinizing of ownership documents and house blueprints are necessary to ensure everything is centrally linked with the ministry. “Citizens are advised not to buy land in unplanned districts as some of them are located in dangerous or unfit areas. Moreover, it is hard for the authorities to provide these areas with utility services,” he said.
