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Former Governor Arrested for Unlicensed Construction in Lattakia

22-11-2023/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

Former Lattakia Governor Major General Ibrahim Khader Al-Salem was arrested under a warrant issued on October 18, by the Ministry of Justice’s Lattakia Court and placed in the governorate’s Al-Basseh prison. Out of 14 officials wanted for investigation in the same cases, 10 were arrested and four went into hiding.

Among the charges directed against the former governor, according to the arrest and summons warrant, are crimes of bribery, forgery of official documents, the misuse of public funds, embezzlement, and seizing state properties. A video clip circulated on social media showing Mr Salem surrounded by police officers, apparently at the moment of his arrest and being led out of his house. However, it appears that his arrest preceded the warrant by more than 45 days, according to local media.

On October 3, the semi-official Al-Watan newspaper reported the arrest of current and former officials, neighbourhood mukhtars, building contractors, and influential people, describing them as part of an organised corruption network involved in serious unlicensed construction, public funds embezzlement, changing the zoning status of real estate areas, extorting public properties, and money laundering. The newspaper stated that a precautionary seizure was placed on the properties of these accused individuals, including their spouses and children. Other local media also reported the recovery of some state properties seized by the accused.

Among the detainees are the director of Cadastral Affairs in Lattakia and his assistant, two former mayors of Lattakia city, and the former director of the technical services department. Also among the accused is a member of the People’s Assembly, amid reports of demands to lift his immunity for arrest.

The current head of the Lattakia Governorate Council announced on September 10 the transfer of five files to the monitoring and inspection authorities, including files regarding transgressions in the Lattakia City Council, the General Housing Establishment, and other projects, where corruption and waste exceed billions of Syrian pounds, according to Al-Watan.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister issued Resolution No. 1751 on November 13 to form a committee to count and study all properties whose zoning status was modified in Lattakia, believed to involve more than 180 properties, as well as study the modifications to the building code. The committee includes the Deputy Minister of Local Administration and Environment, the Deputy Minister of Public Works and Housing, the head of the Lattakia City Council, a judge from the State Council, the director of the financial directorate of the governorate, and the director of the real estate services directorate.

As some local news outlets reported, Mr Salem is supported by Bouthaina Shaaban, the political advisor to Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad, with whom he has a familial connection. He previously held the position of head of the Criminal Security Branch in Lattakia and is one of the longest-serving governors among those appointed since 2011. He served as the governor of Lattakia for seven years, from 2014 to 2021.

In Syria, the governor sits at the head of the highest executive authority in their governorate and is directly appointed by the President of the Republic. According to Local Administration Law No. 107 of 2011, the governor is the representative of the central authority, an agent for all ministries, and is appointed and dismissed by decree. The law also states that the governor is, by default, a member of the Higher Council for Local Administration, and the governor chairs the Executive Office in the province, which in turn is part of the Governorate Council. The governor has the right to name members of the permanent or temporary committees that they establish, and they have the powers of judicial police in the case of flagrant crimes. They are responsible for contracting, and ordering expenditure for the governorate budget, and all official directorates in the governorate are subject to their written orders.

Reports in local media have pointed to corruption cases exceeding SYP 52 billion, most notably real estate issues, such as overlooking major cases of unlicensed construction, including an unauthorised increase in the number of storeys, in exchange for the governor and his partners receiving a share in each building. Some local networks have reported that the number of properties registered in the name of the governor, his wife, and his children exceeds 100 properties. However, The Syria Report has not been able to verify the accuracy of this information.

However, according to media reports, the most prominent case of unlicensed construction committed by the governor relates to the Zeitouna residential project in Al-Mashaher area of Lattakia city, which was established on land without detailed zoning plans to date. The general zoning plan for the area had envisaged the construction of schools, public parks, and housing.

It is unclear who owns the land and whether it is private or expropriated. In any case, the project contractor, in partnership with the former governor, built a luxurious residential project in Zeitouna without leaving space for gardens and schools. Theoretically, this means that despite its luxury, the project is considered informal, built on public property, or land commonly owned but not subdivided in the Land Records. Consequently, the residential apartments in the project will not be noted in the Land Records. They will not be eligible for subdivision and registration in the names of their buyers. However, in practice, the buyers were granted official ownership deeds for these apartments, meaning the official documents were falsified.

The opposition website Al-Hal Net reported in 2021 that developers of residential apartments in Zeitouna had begun requiring applicants to pay half the property’s value in advance. According to the website, the apartment was valued at more than SYP 100 million at that time.

In August 2021, Al-Wahda published an interview with the director of the Zeitouna project, who said the buildings included shops, commercial markets, storeys designated for offices, and, above them, 10 residential storeys. The engineer indicated that the project began in 2017 and was completed in multiple phases. The extent of completion of the project and whether it is partially or fully inhabited is unclear amidst news of fraud and corruption in connecting the electricity, sewage, and water networks.

Moreover, news leaked about the same contractor and the former governor extorting a large property from a private company in the Al-Slaybiyeh real estate area and incorporating it into the Zeitouna project. Additionally, the former governor granted approval to change the zoning status of some areas from commercial to residential, allowing for the construction of additional storeys while maintaining their commercial nature. Some pro-regime influencers on social media revealed an agreement between members of the arrested network to inflate the prices of certain properties artificially.

This news of the former governor’s corruption does not come as a surprise. It is a quasi-official way of dealing with influential regime officials whose interests conflict with those more powerful than them. For example, a similar case happened with the former businessman Rami Makhlouf. With the lack of transparency in the official media and the inability to access the real reasons that led to the opening of corruption files against the former governor of Lattakia, unconfirmed rumours circulate that the problem stems from the former governor and his partner, the contractor in the Zeitouna project, refusing to pay USD 10 million to one of the influential senior officials in the state. However, The Syria Report was unable to substantiate this rumour.

Explained: Construction Permits on Common-Ownership Lands

30-05-2023/in Analysis & Features, HLP /by Rand Shamaa

Syria’s urban planning legal system imposes complicated conditions for granting construction permits on land commonly owned by multiple owners.

The laws distinguish between three cases when considering whether to grant such permits: lands commonly owned within provincial city centres, those located in the zoning plans of local administrative units and those outside such zoning plans but located within local administrative boundaries.

These procedures often are complex and take a long time. In addition, applicants face several unfair conditions, such as giving up their right to request services on the land and requiring the consent of all the owners, which can lead to blackmail. Other issues include the expropriation of shares from commonly owned lands and the complex procedures for terminating common ownership.

Consequently, many property owners avoid applying for construction permits and sometimes build without permits, leaving their properties vulnerable to future legal problems.

Properties within provincial city centres

Building permits on commonly owned properties in these areas are subject to the provisions of Building Plot Construction Law No. 82 of 2010, its Executive Instructions No. 105 of 2010 and amendments issued in Law No. 6 of 2020. Here, those who own at least half the shares on the commonly owned property must apply to their local city council for the construction permit, alongside a request to terminate the common ownership.

Next, the local council head forms a committee tasked with terminating common ownership of the property. This committee is led by a judge appointed by the Minister of Justice. It includes a representative from the administrative authority and a first-degree representative from the Directorate of Cadastral Affairs appointed by the Minister of Local Administration. The committee informs the real estate department to which the property belongs to place a sale notice for the property in a public auction. This committee then requests the owners to agree on their application for the construction permit within five days. It prepares a report documenting the agreed-upon terms among the partners. If they agree, the committee requests them to complete the permit documents. If they disagree, the committee decides to sell the property in a public auction according to the applicable legal procedures. The committee’s decision regarding the sale is published in local and Damascus newspapers two weeks before the auction.

All decisions by the committee are subject to appeal before the Court of Appeal in the relevant governorate, according to the deadlines for appealing urgent matters, which are set at five days. The Court of Appeal issues its decision in the deliberation chamber without summoning the parties, which is final. The winning bidder in the auction must pay the price of the property and other specified fees within ten days, under penalty of the property being auctioned again. Additionally, within six months, the winning bidder must submit a construction permit request for the property, accompanied by the required legal documents and technical plans.

Properties within local administrative unit zoning plans

Construction permits in these areas are subject to the executive instructions issued by the Ministry of Local Administration Resolution No. 3921 of 2011 regarding the repealed Law No. 59 of 2008 on unlicensed buildings. However, the current Law No. 40 of 2012 on unlicensed buildings and its executive instructions do not address this particular licensing situation. Therefore, the executive instructions of Law No. 59 remain applicable in this case.

According to the executive instructions of Law No. 59, several conditions must be fulfilled. The applicant for the permit must provide the administrative unit with a document proving ownership of the portion of the communally owned property that requires licensing. This proof can be a real estate registration statement, a notarized agency agreement or a court decision. Additionally, they must submit a detailed site plan from an engineering office, authenticated by the local council or technical services office, showing the location of the land to be licensed, its surrounding properties, building boundaries, roads and other facilities. A certificate indicating the area to be licensed, issued by the mukhtars Authority and notarised, must also be provided. Finally, the applicant must also submit a document signed by the adjacent landowners and notarized, attesting to the applicant’s right to the land requiring the permit. The permit applicant must promise not to claim any compensation in case the administrative authority decides to cancel or suspend the permit in the event of a legal dispute.

The land must meet certain conditions, such as partially facing a public road and having a specified length. In addition, a designated portion of the land should be allocated for public facilities. In this case, the executive instructions do not require the submission of a request to terminate communal ownership of the property along with the permit application.

Properties outside zoning plans but located within local administrative boundaries

Construction permits in these areas are granted according to the executive instructions issued by the Ministry of Local Administration on February 28, 2012. These instructions are similar to the licensing process for commonly owned lands within zoning plans, albeit with the addition of some conditions.

For example, a permit applicant for land outside a zoning plan must submit a notarized written promise to the notary public, stating that they will not demand the administrative unit to provide public services such as roads, water, electricity and sewage. This means that the administrative entity disclaims its responsibilities for implementing the rights accrued to the permit holder. In addition, the land area must meet a specific limit as specified in that governorate’s building codes. Finally, access to the land must be ensured without any objection from the owners of the remaining shares separating it from the public road.

After these conditions are met and before granting the permit, the local administrative unit must publish the permit request in one of the governorate’s local newspapers and on its bulletin board for 30 days. This is so that people can send in objections. If there are no objections, then the permit is granted.

Explained: Subdivision of Real Estate Properties

29-11-2022/in Analysis & Features, HLP /by Rand Shamaa

Ifraz, or subdivision, of real estate in Syria means dividing a real estate property into smaller parcels. The Directorate of Cadastral Affairs carries out the technical process following plans that the relevant local administrative unit has approved.

The subdivision process divides the original property into new properties, each with a unique number. It also considers the building code for the area if the original property was located within a zoning plan or the minimum surface area for agriculture if the property was originally agricultural land outside of a zoning plan.

One reason an owner may decide to subdivide their property is to divide it into parts to sell. In other cases, common property owners may wish to allocate a piece to each of them.

It is important to distinguish between the subdivision process and a similar process called real estate partitioning. The latter is a procedure where owners partition a piece of land into subplots to build buildings and public facilities on those subplots. The Planning and Urban Development Law No. 23 of 2015 delineates the methods and conditions for real estate division.

How is ifraz carried out?

Ifraz occurs through one of two methods. First, it can be done by mutual consent of the owners or through the order and permission of the property owner. Secondly, subdivision can also be carried out via court ruling after one or all common owners file a case for possession to divide the property amongst themselves.

For the subdivision to be implemented, the survey department of the relevant Land Registry, a part of the General Directorate of Cadastral Affairs, must complete a technical subdivision draft for the property. This draft contains technical plans that determine what the property will look like after subdivision, the property description, and boundary lines.

Additionally, this draft must comply with the building code in its real estate zone and the master and detailed zoning plans, according to the Ministry of Local Administration Circular No. 1/63/2/D of 2000.

Next, the relevant administrative unit must approve the technical subdivision draft for properties within the local zoning plan, according to a Ministry of Local Administration circular from 2011, based on the Local Administration Law in Legislative Decree No. 107 of 2011. Meanwhile, the local technical services directorate approves drafts for properties outside the zoning plan.

After that comes a series of different steps within the relevant land registry department: compiling a subdivision contract between the property owners that includes their approval of the technical subdivision draft; registration of that contract in the real estate documentation office; confirmation of the contract in the survey department; then entering into the registration division which creates new land records for the properties resulting from the subdivision process.

Conditions for subdivision

The subdivision process may only be carried out for properties that have final ownership, meaning that for subdivision to occur, full ownership must already be in place, and there may not be any lawsuits in the land record for that property.

Agricultural lands outside of zoning plans may not undergo subdivision if less than 4,000 square metres, per the Ministry of Agriculture Circular No. 1308/B of 1984.

The older Municipalities Law No. 172 of 1956 stated that lands could not be subdivided, partitioned, or zoned into multiple building plots within the borders of a municipality without a draft first approved by the local mayor. This is mainly because, in some cases of termination of common property, the property’s subdivision can result in shares whose surface area is below the permissible limit for constructing any buildings. Such shares then remain unusable. This is why the Minister of Justice issued Communique No. 43 of 1962 to the courts, which affirmed that in cases of common property termination, subdivision drafts must be presented to mayors for approval to comply with building codes before a court rules on the subdivision.

Meanwhile, in State Council jurisprudence No. 149 of 1963, Cadastral Affairs was obligated to register subdivisions issued by final court rulings, even if they violated building codes. If Cadastral Affairs files a claim objecting to the subdivision ruling, the case may be exempted from this judicial process per the Procedural Code.