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Damascus Governorate to Begin Granting Restoration Permits in Qaboun

25-10-2022/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

Under Decision No. 991, issued on October 3, 2022, the Damascus governorate has agreed to grant “permits” for restoring, reinforcing, and rebuilding parts of licensed real estate properties in the Qaboun residential area. Recipients must implement these projects within six months of receiving their permits. 

The governorate’s executive office stipulates that people wishing to obtain permits must meet certain conditions. They must obtain prior security approval and documents proving the structural soundness of their properties. In addition, they must provide ownership contracts and notarised pledges that they will not request any subsequent compensation should they be ordered to evacuate the area for zoning implementation purposes. 

In June 2020, the Damascus governorate announced it had issued Detailed Zoning Plan No. 105 for the Qaboun residential area, in line with Planning and Urban Development Law No. 23 of 2015. The zoning plan was meant to be approved and issued by special decree, though this has yet to happen. In May 2021, some displaced residents were allowed to return to the Qaboun residential area after having met two conditions, i.e. submitting to a security investigation at the Air Force Intelligence branch in charge of the area and obtaining structural reports confirming their properties are safely habitable. 

Interestingly, Decision No. 991 restricts restoration, reinforcement and reconstruction work to legally licensed properties, excluding any informally built structures. According to sources who spoke with The Syria Report, that leaves residents able to return to and restore buildings mainly in one area, a residential housing complex of apartment blocks and one-storey homes east of the Al-Ghufran Mosque. This area was not included in Detailed Zoning Plan No. 105, meaning it will not be re-zoned. 

The buildings east of Al-Ghufran Mosque survived a wide-scale demolitions campaign carried out by regime forces after they had forcibly expelled residents and opposition fighters from the area in May 2017. These buildings are licensed, were built on previously zoned plots of land and were only partially damaged or not damaged by wartime fighting. Homeowners there also have official ownership documents. Sources told The Syria Report that the Damascus governorate would not grant restoration permits for damaged buildings in the area at risk of collapse, even if they were licensed or sit on previously zoned land. 

Meanwhile, the conditions for obtaining security approval mean that the property owners who are eventually green-lighted to return home are those currently living in regime-held areas and are not wanted by the security services. If returnees have any family members who are wanted, they must commit to a “security settlement.” The settlements may include an extensive security investigation, arrest if there are unresolved search warrants, and military conscription for men who have yet to complete their military duty. 

Appointed in July 2022, the new governor of Damascus set aside one day per week to listen to citizens’ complaints and petitions. Multiple delegations of Qaboun residents ended up visiting him. According to the preamble of Decision No. 991, which the governor signed, the decision came at the request of a member of the governorate’s executive office during a meeting held in late September. The decision had the unanimous support of the office at a meeting on October 3. Notably, October 3 was the last day the office met before the end of its term. Local administrative elections took place in September, with the new governorate council taking its constitutional oath and electing members of the new executive office on October 17. As a result, according to The Syria Report’s sources, the new office will be charged with following up on the implementation of Decision No. 991 without being responsible for issuing it. 

One of the reasons for passing Decision No. 991 may be that the Damascus governorate needs more funds to start zoning the Qaboun residential area per Detailed Zoning Plan No. 105. This comes in light of the governorate’s failure in other zoning projects in Marota City and Basilia City, raising the new governor’s fears that unlicensed construction could restart in Qaboun if displaced residents are allowed to return. Meanwhile, the governor is trying to demolish unlicensed buildings across the capital city, following extensive, similar demolition campaigns he led during his time as governor of Hama. He is considered among the Syrian governors most keen on enforcing Decree No. 40 of 2012, which concerns unlicensed construction.

https://hlp.syria-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Logo-300x81.png 0 0 Rand Shamaa https://hlp.syria-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Logo-300x81.png Rand Shamaa2022-10-25 17:28:302022-10-25 22:10:26Damascus Governorate to Begin Granting Restoration Permits in Qaboun

Security Approval for Dozens of People to Return to Rural Damascus

18-10-2022/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

On September 20, the State Security Department’s General Intelligence sent the mukhtar of Al-Dekhaniyeh, a town in the Rural Damascus governorate, a list of names of 70 displaced residents. Although the issuance of the list suggests that the intelligence agency had no objection to their return, it does not necessarily mean that returns will occur anytime soon.

According to a correspondent for The Syria Report, the town’s mukhtar requested that those whose names appeared on the list visit his office to submit applications for return. He informed the returnees to bring their ID cards and documents proving property ownership in the town and electricity, water and phone bills. Real estate contracts not formally listed within the Land Registry or with the courts would not be accepted. 

On September 29, a group representing the displaced residents of Al-Dekhaniyeh met with the governor of Rural Damascus and the town’s mukhtar, demanding that the governor expedite their return process. They also offered to help remove rubble and other rehabilitation work in the town. The governor promised to start the return process by the end of October, affirming that rehabilitation work on the town’s infrastructure would also begin soon. 

The correspondent reported the governor of Rural Damascus saying that since 2018, around 400 families have submitted return requests to the governorate and that those requests were assigned numbers. He added that anyone with a return request whose name did not appear on the list should submit a request to the State Security Department in Kafr Sousseh, Damascus, to obtain security approval. An estimated 5,000 people lived in the town before 2011. 

The correspondent added that some 600 families have yet to submit any requests to the governorate for returning to Al-Dekhaniyeh. According to the governor, these families must submit their requests to the governorate, obtain numbers, and then visit the State Security Department in Kafr Sousseh. 

Al-Dekhaniyeh belongs to the Al-Kisweh district in Rural Damascus, adjacent to the city of Jaramana. It is close to the city centre of Damascus, located just 1.50 kilometres from the capital’s historic Bab Sharqi area. Al-Dekhaniyeh’s zoning plans are old and categorise much of the land within its boundaries as agricultural, where construction is prohibited. Nevertheless, like many other parts of Rural Damascus surrounding the capital city, Al-Dekhaniyeh has witnessed a boom in informally built housing since the 1970s due to the rising demand for cheap accommodation. 

The town is also an important industrial centre, home to many warehouses belonging to Damascus merchants. There are also car repair workshops, iron workshops, and textile factories. Located in Al-Dekhaniyeh are factories for the General Company for Manufacturing Nylon Threads and Stockings, the General Company for Paints, Chemical Industries Omayad Paints, and more. 

Opposition forces launched an attack on the town in 2014. The rebels managed to take control of most of the town at the time. However, regime forces recaptured it after a month of fierce battles that saw so-called “elephant missiles” wreak widespread damage to infrastructure and private property. Afterwards, Al-Dekhaniyeh became a closed military zone, with regime forces bulldozing many homes in the northern neighbourhood and using the rubble to build berms separating the town from nearby Ain Terma during the time opposition forces controlled it. Work teams contracted by the regime looted homes belonging to displaced residents, withdrawing iron from the roofs and water and plumbing pipes. 

Al-Dekhaniyeh has been empty of its residents since 2014, with regime forces still not permitting them to return. Most of the displaced now live in nearby neighbourhoods of Damascus, such as Al-Dweilaeh, Kashkoul and Al-Kabbas, and the Rural Damascus city of Jaramana. Many fear that the security services view them as sympathetic to the opposition and that they helped opposition forces enter the town’s northern neighbourhoods in 2014, preventing them from being approved to return home. According to The Syria Report’s correspondent, most residents permitted to return via the State Security list are from the town’s southern neighbourhoods. Until now, entry to the town is prohibited. An Air Force Intelligence checkpoint in Al-Kabbas and a State Security checkpoint in Al-Dweilaeh prevent anyone from entering. 

Meanwhile, the Damascus governorate has transformed the northeastern part of Al-Dekhaniyeh into a waste dump for the capital’s eastern neighbourhoods. According to the correspondent, the piles of garbage are now several storeys high and have overtaken some real estate in the area. 

In February 2018, the president of the Jaramana City Council told local media that Al-Dekhaniyeh would be annexed into the city’s zoning expansion plan. He added that the process would include removing rubble and dilapidated buildings, providing services, and distributing certain rights to their holders. 

Finally, in early 2021, the head of Rural Damascus’ Directorate for Decision and Regional Planning Support told local media that a detailed zoning plan was underway for Al-Dekhaniyeh. 

https://hlp.syria-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Logo-300x81.png 0 0 Rand Shamaa https://hlp.syria-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Logo-300x81.png Rand Shamaa2022-10-18 20:11:172022-10-19 08:59:10Security Approval for Dozens of People to Return to Rural Damascus

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