Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — Members of the Shoura Council have accused the Ministry of Housing's negligence for the worsening housing crisis in the country.

During discussions at a Shoura session on Tuesday, council member Mohammad Al-Naqadi said the ministry, as the authority responsible for solving the housing problem, needs to be more transparent in its work.

“The ministry did not submit any information on its projects in its annual financial report. We don’t know what it is working on. For example, the report states that SR10 billion was allocated to the recipients of social insurance. But there are no details on the number of recipients and what this budget is used for,” said Al-Naqadi.

He added the ministry had requested half a billion sq. meters of land when it does not have a successful record of using the land it had already been given.

Member Mohammad Al-Ali said the ministry already has 75 million sq. meters of land and no one knows what the ministry planned to do with them.

“We need detailed information on the beneficiaries of the ministry’s programs. The ministry has reported that it plans to make available 200,000 residential units within the next three years and so far the number of recipients of the program has reached 156,000. That is a positive milestone but we need extensive information on its strategies,” said Al-Ali.

Member Mansour Al-Kiraidis said the ministry has not revealed any data on rent or ownership contracts to show the number of citizens who have actually benefited from the ministry’s projects.

“The ministry submitted its plan to provide 500,000 new residential units over the next two years. We have no data inform us whether the previous projects were successfully completed or not,” said Al-Kiraidis.

Prince Khalid Al-Saud said the report the ministry submitted does not have any details on the obstacles it faced.

Fatima Al-Qarni advised the ministry to cooperate with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs to renovate poor areas and provide residence for people with limited income.

Ayoub Al-Jarbou said the ministry was the main cause behind the housing crisis in the Kingdom.

“The ministry needs to be more firm in enforcing white land tax. Many white land owners are not paying their taxes on flimsy excuses,” said Al-Jarbou.

The Shoura Council agreed to give the ministry more time to resubmit a detailed report.