Saudi Arabia satellite system to monitor land encroachment
Move comes days after King Salman fires officials for encroachments on Red Sea projects
Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia has launched a satellite remote sensing system to monitor encroachments on government land and environment, local media reported.
The emirates of Madinah and Al Qassim have launched the new monitoring system to combat encroachments and hold the offenders accountable.
Emir of Madinah Prince Faisal Bin Salman inaugurated the system.
The move is aimed at preserving government land, preventing exploitation, reducing encroachments, speeding up reporting procedures, monitoring cases, and dealing with the consequences.
The move comes only a few days after King Salman bin Abdulaziz ordered several officials be fired and their role in encroachments on land in several cities in the Kingdom be investigated by the Control and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha).
Encroachments were made on the Red Sea project land plots of the Royal Commission for Al Ula, Red Sea Company, and Al Soudah Development Company.
Encroachments on the Red Sea project land plots have exceeded 5,000, in addition to other violations in Al Ula. These violations are considered to be an infringement on law and constitute environmental damage, in addition to their great impact on the completion of projects and their plans.
This is in cooperation with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology to monitor geographical alterations on government land, especially those falling within the scope of major projects.
Prince Faisal said the new system is of great importance in following up on encroachments and dealing with them with top priority before their occurrence, and it will be evaluated after six months to ensure its feasibility.
In Qassim region, the new system was launched under the theme “Eye of the Falcon.” As per the system, the images of any encroachments at any location in the region will be made available via satellites and drones and send notifications to the control center for punitive action.
The system will also monitor any damage to environment on valleys and flood passages, and work to stop them, so as to reduce natural disasters caused by encroachments.
There is also a mechanism to submit dynamic reports on the map in a consistent manner and monitor 12 governorates and 165 towns in the region throughout the year.