AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The municipality of the Eastern Region intensified its regulatory measures on residential buildings and commercial facilities, announcing the execution of more than 4,563 inspections within the framework of implementing what is known as the "Compliance Certificate"; it also emphasized that it has covered about 80 percent of the targeted premises to pave the way for issuing warnings and imposing penalties against owners who do not complete the program requirements by next month.
These steps were taken during a meeting of the "Urban Landscape Improvement" program chaired by Fahd al-Jubeir, the mayor of the Eastern Region, where the municipality reviewed the results of field campaigns and their completion programs, and emphasized the continued monitoring of what it calls "construction violations" and expediting legal actions against properties not complying with the set conditions.
This approach, amid the requirements of the certificate known as the "Compliance Certificate" for the repair, renovation, and upgrading of buildings, has raised growing concerns among citizens and small business owners. The additional financial burden imposed by this plan is also difficult for a wide range of owners, given the continued economic pressures and rising costs of living and basic services. As the deadline approaches, local authorities are moving toward expanding the scope of warnings and punitive measures, placing thousands of owners before new financial and administrative obligations. Meanwhile, warnings have been raised about the consequences of these policies on small property owners and investors with limited financial capacity, who are themselves facing increasing economic challenges.
These measures reflect the continuation of an approach based on imposing additional taxes and mandatory conditions under regulatory and construction titles, without providing adequate facilities that take into account the economic conditions of the residents. Residents emphasize that the improvement of the urban environment should not become a means to increase the financial burden on citizens or a tool to impose fines and additional taxes at a time when livelihood pressures are increasing.
Saudi authorities are expanding the scope of collecting fees and administrative obligations related to properties and facilities through conditions described as "debilitating and costly"; turning the slogans of "urban landscape improvement" into coercive measures that expose citizens to the threat of fines and financial penalties within the framework of efforts to strengthen government revenues at the cost of economic instability for residents and small business owners.
This action comes simultaneously with reports of local authorities' preparations to implement a new demolition and excavation campaign in a number of neighborhoods in the Eastern (Shiite) Region, raising residents' concerns that the "Compliance Certificate" requirements might be a prelude to actions that could lead to property loss or forced displacement under the guise of property development and urban reconfiguration.
In this regard, the municipality of Qatif Province (Shiite) issued a decision that sparked a wave of concern and discontent among residents; this decision requires farm owners to immediately refer to the municipality and present documents and evidence proving ownership of their agricultural lands, an action that many consider a prelude to reopening the file of agricultural lands and religious endowments for their acquisition under legal and administrative cover.
Residents fear that this action is an extension of previous policies that resulted in the dispossession of rightful owners under regulatory and development titles, especially given the experience that occurred in the "Awamiya" town with the "Waqf al-Ramis." The excavation and removal operations of that endowment were accompanied by official campaigns about development projects, investment opportunities, and modern dairy farms, but those promises remained on paper, while the region lost one of its most prominent agricultural endowments and a source linked to its social and economic history.
It is recalled that last year, the implementation of a large-scale plan began, according to which about 50 percent of the city of Safwa in Qatif Province would be demolished and leveled, with eviction notices issued to residents of the Urubah neighborhood, one of the most prominent and modern neighborhoods in this city.
Previously, the Saudi regime had announced a plan to demolish half of Safwa city's area under the pretext that the lands would be allocated for the benefit of Aramco oil company projects; a pretext that faced widespread opposition from residents, who declared that the reasons put forward do not reflect reality.
The demolition notices for the Urubah neighborhood were specifically issued under the slogan of "oil reasons," while simultaneously in Qatif, demolition campaigns are ongoing in a large number of other neighborhoods under various pretexts, including "development" and "street expansion," strengthening residents' belief that the real goal goes beyond official claims.
It is worth noting that the Saudi regime had previously announced a project to develop the oil field in Qatif. The maps published by the Ministry of Oil at that time regarding expropriations showed that this project extends about 50 kilometers and covers the entire western side of the province from its southernmost point to its northernmost point. The coordinates of demolition and destruction were also distributed across multiple areas, and the regime attempted to categorize them based on three flimsy and baseless criteria.
Meanwhile, projects of the Ministry of Municipalities have assumed responsibility for the demolition and destruction of neighborhoods in the heart of Qatif and areas extending eastward to Tarout Island.
In detail, the Ministry of Oil's map showed three colors as designated areas for demolition and expropriation:
Red color: All lands within this area will be expropriated. This area extends from northern Qatif, in an area now known as the "King Fahd Suburb in Bayda Province" (a province created in 2022 after being separated from Qatif Province itself), to the borders of Jubail Province at the farthest point north; a very extensive area that includes agricultural, residential, and coastal areas.
Yellow color: All lands located in the area affected by risk, extending 450 meters around the drilling site, except for agricultural lands, will be demolished, meaning that residents of this area must also be relocated. These areas are scattered from the "Al-Badrani" area in southwestern Qatif to the coastal borders in the north, near Jubail Province.
Blue color: All residential lands located within this area will be demolished, with the justification that these areas have a higher population density than other areas. This area is, in terms of size, the second largest part of the map and includes existing residential neighborhoods, particularly in the Awjam town and Safwa city.
It should be emphasized that Qatif, with its current area, is completely occupied and has no developable land, because the Saudi regime has prevented its expansion to the west and has besieged it. Moreover, until recently, even the construction of three-story buildings was prohibited in Qatif.
No vacant land remains for exploitation, as the Saudi regime has separated large parts of vacant land and annexed it to the newly created "Bayda" province; an action that represents a new attempt to fragment the "Eastern Region," a region originally composed of Qatif and Al-Ahsa, with areas such as Dammam, Jubail, Khobar, and Ras Tanura being integral parts of this region, most of which are new areas established after the founding of Aramco.
In the face of this reality, it becomes clear that the essence of this project is based on the Saudi regime's decision for the internal displacement of Qatif's people, and consequently, the dispersal and fragmentation of the region's social fabric, as well as the distribution of the Shiite population in the Arabian Peninsula in a way that eliminates the possibility of forming residential concentrations and their settlement in vast territories, as the homeland called "Saudi Arabia" is known.
Here one can refer to the incident of the raid on "Al-Musawwara" and the forced departure of many residents from the area to Sunni-majority areas such as Khobar, Jubail, Dammam, Riyadh, and Jeddah.
Within the context of these developments, the social repercussions intended by the Saudi regime on the cohesive Shiite community in Qatif also become apparent; a people united by shared belief, culture, solidarity, and common ideals and goals. As a result, a rupture is created between the first generation of this region and the current and future generations.
It is noteworthy that these divisive efforts are not new; rather, in continuation of policies of division and segregation resembling Zionist apartheid, Al Saud, in the first week of April 2022, divided Qatif Province into two parts, eastern and western; the western part was named Bayda Province, and the eastern part remained as Qatif.
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