Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Saudi Arabian government has allotted housing for a total of 5,589 Saudi families whose homes were razed in the slums and random neighborhoods in Jeddah. This was revealed in a review meeting chaired by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah and advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

The meeting, which was attended by senior officials of the relevant authorities, reviewed the latest developments and works in the project to redevelop the city after razing slums.

At the outset of the meeting, Prince Khaled thanked the wise leadership for the support being extended to the development project and appreciated the directives issued to expedite disbursement of compensation to citizens that began last week.

He said that the slums would be developed in a way realizing the aspirations of the leadership and that would take Jeddah to the ranks of modern cities of the developed countries.

The Emir was briefed on the work of the razing projects that cover 32 neighborhoods. The removal of 20 neighborhoods has been completed, while work is under way to raze the remaining 12 neighborhoods.

It was stated that a total of 5,589 families were housed at the expense of the state and this followed demolition of their homes while over 200 beneficiaries were handed over development housing.

The total free services provided to residents of slums accounted for nearly 85,000 services, including payment of rent, transportation of luggage, and distribution of meals, medicines, and other essential goods.

Prince Khaled reviewed the working mechanisms of the project to remove slums, most notably housing services, which includes three categories.

Out of these categories, the first is families that come under the social security schemes while the second category includes homeowners who hold title deeds for their properties. The state has rented them housing units until they receive compensation amounts.

The third category is citizens, who are neither beneficiaries of the social security schemes nor holders of deeds. It was decided that the concerned authorities will carry out studies about their cases and then they will be given housing.

They can follow the mechanism for applying for compensation through the link https://services.jeddah.gov.sa/.

Prince Khaled also listened to the briefing on the latest work related to the disbursement of compensation, of which the first phase has begun with allocation of SR1 billion in this respect while the compensation will be disbursed to the rest of the citizens in several successive stages.

This will be in accordance with a timetable after the completion of all the procedures, including taking inventory and evaluation of the razed properties, and verifying title deeds and other required documents.