The Ministry of Finance—Al-Ahsa Branch announced that annual revenue from the leasing of state-owned land and farms in the cities, villages, and hamlets of Al-Ahsa exceeds 13 million riyals, noting that the total number of lease agreements for real estate, farms, and gas stations, and state-owned «leased» cell towers exceeds 800 lease agreements, representing 90% of agricultural land.
This was clarified by Ahmed Al-Jogiman, director of the Ministry’s Al-Ahsa branch, who noted that the number of state-owned properties in Al-Ahsa exceeds 2,000 plots of land and farms, including deeds belonging to the Ministry of Finance, in addition to the «Al-Rahmaniyah» lands, which are often located outside residential and urban areas «along Al-Ahsa’s outer roads and highways.”
Al-Jogiman noted on the sidelines of his inspection tour of state-owned properties—which included several sites in the eastern, northern, and northeastern villages within the Al-Ahsa Agricultural Oasis, that the purpose of the tour was to assess state-owned lands and properties to protect them from encroachments and prevent violations by certain tenants who breach the terms and conditions of their lease agreements with the state, He confirmed that a number of violations had been identified among some tenants, who had deviated from the agricultural activities specified in the lease agreement by using the sites for commercial purposes, including converting agricultural land into guesthouses and rest areas, describing these as clear violations from which financial revenue is generated. He noted that agricultural land lease agreements require the care, cultivation, and maintenance of the land, as well as the construction of buildings not exceeding 10% of the total land area.
