Saudi Arabia: Court ruling over expropriation of two Mecca properties worth SR2.2 billion

Abu Dhabi: The General Mecca Court has issued a ruling in favour of the General Authority for State Real Estate with a value of SR2.2 billion ($586,559,974) after the money had been paid to dispossess two properties in Mecca.

The Governor of the General Authority for State Real Estate, Ihsan Bafaqih, said the case that the authority has won in court was the first of its kind of this size, and it was related to two properties that were expropriated for a project in Mecca.

Bafaqih said that the State Real Estate General Authority will continue to apply standards of transparency, fairness and governance in expropriation, establish controls for property valuation, achieve its tasks in preserving state real estate, and contribute to protecting public funds, including studying similar files and instruments that are tainted by any violations.

He called for correcting violations in keeping with transparent and regulatory framework and a set of specifications and standards necessary to achieve reliable governance of state real estate.