Saeed Al-Suraihi
HARDLY a week passes without news about the removal of illegal claims to public land.
If the encroachments reach hundreds of thousands of square meters, then we are facing a phenomenon that can’t be solved with simple removal of illegally built structures.
The situation is becoming more like a chase between the municipalities and the land thieves. No sooner the officials removed one violation than another surfaces. Whenever they confiscate illegally taken government land and properties, the perpetrators find new land to steal.
Many of these violations have witnessed the construction of random houses or just mounts of dirt, some of which have been removed and others are awaiting removal. It is strange that people are still tempted to build homes on stolen public land sold to them in secretive deals showing false location plans and street maps.
It is not enough that the municipalities simply remove the illegal construction on such “delusional lots”. What is more strange is such removal is often taken place after the stolen land has been illegally sold to a third party. What the municipalities are required to do is follow up and investigate how did the seizure of land take place in the place and how was it sold.
And if the law does not protect the dupes, with apologies to those who were involved in the purchase of land, the authorities should not overlook those who permitted themselves to abuse government land, make illegal lots and then sell them, taking advantage of the naivety of buyers.
Unless these thieves are brought to book, we will read 100 years later about municipalities still recovering government land from criminals.
