Minister Stops Sale of Endowment Land
Hasan Hatrash, Arab News

JEDDAH, 30 August 2006 — Justice Minister Abdullah Al-Asheikh, heading a specially formed committee, has ordered notaries in Riyadh and Makkah to stop issuing land ownership deeds regarding land that was intended to accommodate a new industrial zone in Jeddah.

Deeds were being issued for a 400-million-square-meter parcel of land east of Jeddah; however, it has emerged that much of the land is allegedly part of a centuries-old endowment held by a group of landowners who say the proceeds from the development of the land goes to local orphanages and women’s shelters.

As any American who has ever bought a house knows, title to the land is the first thing that needs to be sorted out. In Saudi Arabia, a major development project is running into a certain amount of sand when it was noted that the land, through a 300-year-old deed, belongs to a religious endowment. Interesting.