Khaberni - Local Administration Minister Walid Al-Masry confirmed that the government has put in place a radical and final solution to the problem of camp lands owned by citizens, which had been stalled for about 78 years without their owners benefiting from them due to "legal complexities, the abundance of heirs, and judicial disputes."
Al-Masry explained in statements today, Monday, that the solution is based on the principle of fair and consensual compensation, through exchanging camp lands owned by citizens with treasury-owned lands of equivalent value, which would end judicial disputes and restore rights to their owners without resorting to courts.
He pointed out that the government had previously succeeded in resolving similar cases and today is serious about closing this chronic file in a way that preserves the rights of citizens and serves the public interest while maintaining the symbolic significance of camps and their political and legal role related to the refugee issue.
He explained that under the decision, pieces of land owned by citizens and housing camps in the governorates of the capital, Zarqa, and Madaba will be exchanged with treasury-owned lands within these governorates of equivalent value, and landowners whose lands house camps in the governorates of Irbid, Balqa, and Jerash will be compensated with treasury-owned lands in locations outside these governorates' borders and of the same value due to the lack of treasury land in these areas.
The decision includes incorporating areas of encroached treasury lands located outside the borders of Hittin camp into its boundaries, to be delegated to the Department of Palestinian Affairs.
It is noted that the Cabinet approved yesterday, Sunday, the solutions related to the lands housing the camps and owned by citizens, which ensure the end of existing judicial disputes, reduce the financial burdens on the treasury, based on the principle of fair compensation and according to the desire of the land owners, similar to the previously approved solutions for the Talbiyah camp in Giza district.
The Cabinet tasked the Department of Lands and Surveys with preparing a detailed study of the proposed treasury land pieces and their appraised values, while the Department of Palestinian Affairs was tasked with forming a specialized committee to directly negotiate with landowners and enter into temporary lease agreements with them until the necessary studies are completed, ensuring that each owner receives a land piece or share equivalent to the value of their property based on the principle of fair compensation, with the lands housing the camps then reverting to the state treasury.
The Prime Minister had decided last November to form a committee chaired by the Director General of the Public Corporation for Housing and Urban Development to study the utilization of treasury lands, especially those located in the governorates that include camps set up on lands owned by citizens, for the purpose of exchanging them with treasury lands and providing annual financial allocations for the development of housing projects on them.
