Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The executive regulations of the Law of the Protection of Public Facilities stipulate that anyone who intentionally damages, blocks or obstructs a public road or flood drainage passages shall be slapped with a fine of 75 percent of the cost of repairing the damaged area, not to exceed SR100000.

In the event of committing the violation by a group of persons, they shall jointly bear the value of the penalty, and this does not prevent the completion of the procedures for referring the perpetrators to the competent court.

The executive regulations, approved by Minister of Municipalities and Housing Majid Al-Hogail, obligate the violator to compensate for all damages caused to the public facility, including the costs of repairing the damage caused.

According to the regulations, the competent authority must oblige the violator to repair what results from his violation under its supervision, or to carry out the repair at the violator's expense and recover from him all the expenses and costs necessary to clear the encroachment and repair the resulting damages. If the violator failed to pay, these will be collected in accordance with the provisions of the State Revenue Law.

The regulations included imposing penalties on anyone who cause damage, cut or disrupt road extensions or flood drainage channels as a result of carrying out other works related to any of the public facilities without prior coordination with the competent authority and obtaining a license for that with a fine of 10 percent of the repair costs, provided that the fine does not exceed SR100000.

If the matter has been coordinated with the competent authority and the necessary license has been obtained, the fine shall be 5 percent of the value of the repair costs, not to exceed SR100000, according to the executive regulations of the law. The regulations stipulate that anyone who encroaches on any road or flood drainage channels with the intention of illegally benefiting from its services or creating cuts or holes in them shall be slapped with a fine equivalent to the costs of removing the encroachment and restoring the situation to what it was before, not to exceed SR50000.

Anyone who encroaches on the public road by flooding it with petroleum materials or dropping dirt or stones on it, whether from cars or others, or doing something to it that results in its disruption or total or partial non-utilization shall be slapped with a fine of SR3000, and anyone who facilitates others to illegally benefit from the road or flood drainage channels shall be imposed with a fine of SR2000.

A fine of up to SR3000 is imposed on anyone who tampers with water or electricity meters, public telephone devices, or their installations with the intent to disrupt their function or cause damage. Additionally, the same penalty applies to anyone who damages railways, public roads, or their boundaries by flooding them with irrigation or drainage water, or who performs actions that lead to their disruption, partial or complete inaccessibility, or endangers traffic.

The Law of the Protection of Public Facilities is characterized by its provisions that ensure public facilities continue to operate without interruption and that services are not halted for any beneficiary. The law mandates that the relevant administrations and companies are responsible for protecting these facilities and promptly repairing any damage they sustain. Furthermore, it requires coordination between these entities to ensure that public facilities function smoothly, preventing service disruptions and minimizing harm to users.

The provisions of the law outline various motives for damaging public facilities. These include attacks on public facilities with the intent to benefit from them or the construction of private structures on public facilities. The provisions of the Law of the Protection of Public Facilities stipulate financial penalties for those who damage, vandalize, or obstruct public facilities from functioning. The penalties can include imprisonment for up to two years and a fine of up to SR100000.

The regulations indicated that in the event of a repeat of any of the violations mentioned in these rules, the fine shall be doubled, provided that it does not exceed twice the maximum limit set for the fine, and the decision on compensation or the fine, or both, shall be issued by the head of the competent authority