Saudi Gazette report

 

RIYADH – The Ministry of National Guard has emphasized that it will go ahead with the plan to build a hospital in Al-Qassim region after removing illegal constructions on land allocated for the project.



The ministry was reacting to reports published by online newspapers on demands made by some citizens to halt the ministry’s move to remove their houses from the land.



The ministry’s official spokesman said the encroachers had been given ample time to vacate the land, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.



The spokesman said the land was set aside for the construction of the National Guard Hospital in the city in accordance with a royal decree issued three years ago.



The required budget for implementing the project has already been allocated and design works have been approved, but the illegal structures have remained an impediment to start construction, he said.



“It is unfortunate that some of these encroachments and illegal constructions belonged to government officials. Some of them have rented out their illegal buildings while they live outside the region,” he said, adding that the ministry had requested the Qassim governorate to take appropriate measures to remove the encroachments and facilitate implementation of the hospital project.



Denying reports that there was a royal decree allocating this land to some of the citizens, the spokesman said the ministry had asked them to produce any documents to prove their claims but to no avail.