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Katerji Restores Carlton Citadel Hotel in Old Aleppo

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In November, the company Reviving Old Aleppo LLC commenced restoration work on the Carlton Citadel Hotel in Aleppo. The company had signed a contract with the Ministry of Tourism in February 2020 to invest in the hotel project but only managed to obtain the necessary permits at the end of 2023.

Reviving Old Aleppo LLC, whose bylaws were approved by the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Protection under Decision No. 2862 in October 2019, is a company specialising in importing, exporting, and trading building materials; maintaining and restoring buildings, roads, and facilities; designing and executing interior and exterior decorations; and establishing and managing commercial complexes and malls. The company’s founding partners are Ahmad Mohammad Adnan Al-Shehabi and Ahmad Ghazal Ghazal. According to its bylaws, the company is prohibited from building, selling, or trading in residential properties of any kind.

Local sources in Aleppo told The Syria Report that Reviving Old Aleppo LLC is affiliated with Katerji Group Holding. This claim is supported by various indicators, including a January 2022 video by the Aleppo-based Facebook page “Sada FM Syria,” introducing the company as part of the Katerji Group Holding.

Brothers Baraa and Hussam Katerji, along with some of their companies, have been under U.S. sanctions since 2018 for “facilitating oil shipments and financing for the Syrian regime” and acting as intermediaries between the Syrian regime and ISIS in oil deals. Through companies like Arfada Oil, Arman Hotel Management and Tourism, and AA Syria for Towers, the Katerji Group operates in sectors ranging from engineering and oil to tourism and construction. Baraa Katerji served as the chairman of Katerji Group Holding until he was killed in an Israeli airstrike near the Syrian-Lebanese border in July 15.

The Carlton Citadel Hotel, rebranded this year as Arman Citadel Hotel, overlooks the Aleppo Citadel and is located near the historic Khan Al-Shouneh. It is a 20-minute drive from Aleppo International Airport and within walking distance of the citadel, old markets, the Umayyad Mosque, the Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions, and several traditional hammams, making it a significant attraction for tourists.

In February 2020, Naila Shahoud, the head of the Directorate of Tourism in Aleppo, told the official local newspaper Al-Jamahir that the investment contract included rebuilding and operating the hotel under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) system for 40 years, with an annual investment fee of 16 percent of the hotel’s yearly revenues. The reconstruction involves restoring the destroyed sections to their historical condition and adding a complementary building in harmony with Aleppo’s heritage. The project’s implementation timeline was set at five years, with plans for the hotel to be a five-star establishment featuring 80 rooms and four restaurants.

Ms Shahoud added that, alongside encouraging investor interest, the project aims to motivate local residents to restore and return to their homes around the citadel and old city.

The building hosting the Carlton Citadel Hotel dates back to the early 19th century and was originally built as a courthouse on endowment land. However, the 1822 earthquake destroyed the building. Between 1883 and 1897, the site was developed into the “Hamidian Strangers’ Hospital” with funds from donors and inaugurated in 1900 by the Ottoman governor of Aleppo, Jamil Pasha. The hospital included 32 rooms, two large halls, two lounges, and a pharmacy. Over the years, it became a national hospital, a nursing school, and later a health institute in 1988. In 2011, the Ministry of Tourism converted the building into a four-star hotel with 90 rooms, 180 beds, and 584 restaurant seats. The Carlton brand is, in Syria, the property of Shamra Hotels and Resorts Investment Company, which is affiliated with the Attar Group, and is not related to an international chain.

It remains unclear how the property transitioned from endowment ownership to state property under the Ministry of Tourism. This is notable because endowment properties are neither state-owned nor privately held, despite originally being donated by individuals.

After opposition forces took control of parts of Old Aleppo in mid-2012, regime forces and Iranian militias transformed the Carlton Citadel Hotel into a military base due to its strategic vantage point over opposition-controlled neighbourhoods. On May 8, 2014, the opposition group Islamic Front detonated mines planted through tunnels beneath the hotel, partially destroying it. Subsequent shelling in 2015 further damaged its foundations.

A source from Reviving Old Aleppo LLC told The Syria Report that the project spans 7,000 square metres, and is set to create around 1,000 job opportunities “breathing new life into Aleppo’s historic centre”. However, the project faced prolonged delays due to mismanagement within Aleppo’s city council, disagreements with the Directorate of Old Aleppo, the Old Aleppo Protection Committee, and the technical committee of the city council. According to the source, the company took four years to secure the construction permit, despite the contract stipulating a five-year implementation period. The project site was handed over to the company in April 2020, but bureaucratic hurdles and deliberate stalling from official entities delayed the project’s start.

In late 2022, Baraa Katerji personally intervened with the Minister of Tourism to pressure the city council to approve the initial project plans. Despite this, the council did not grant the construction permit until late 2023. According to the source from Reviving Old Aleppo, the Katerji Group accuses unnamed entities of exerting pressure on the council and the Old Aleppo Directorate of delaying the permit issuance.

The company has renamed the hotel from Carlton Citadel to Arman Citadel. If completed, the hotel will join other Katerji Group-operated hotels in Aleppo, including Arman Hotel in New Aleppo, Lorus Hotel in the Mohafaza neighbourhood, and the Quattro Hotel in the Martini neighbourhood, which is expected to open in November 2024.

Private Properties Converted to Rubble Dumps in Darayya

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In recent months, the debris from homes destroyed in previous combat operations in Darayya, a suburb of Damascus, have been relocated to designated sites within the city. Some of these sites previously housed residential buildings destroyed during the war between 2012 and 2016, while others were agricultural lands. In both cases, property owners were not consulted before their lands were repurposed as debris dumps.

Darayya witnessed peaceful opposition to the regime at the start of 2011 before falling under the control of armed opposition forces in 2012. The city endured a severe siege and intense shelling by regime forces, culminating in 2016 with the forced displacement of its entire population and widespread destruction. Subsequently, the Fourth Division, which controls the city, allowed limited returns under strict prior security approvals.

One of the primary areas converted into a debris dump is the Khalij area, adjacent to the Mazzeh military airport. Debris from neighbouring districts has been relocated here. The area suffered extensive destruction during the battles in Darayya. Khalij, an informal settlement northeast of Darayya, became a defensive line for regime forces in 2012, resulting in the demolition of all its structures. The city’s zoning plan, issued by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in April 2018, considered the Khalij area empty and designated it as an empty land near the airport.

Photos shared by Darayya residents in a private Facebook group show trucks unloading debris in the Khalij area. Another photo depicts other trucks near large debris piles. Hussein, a resident, told The Syria Report that he was aware his home in Khalij had been destroyed during the conflict, and expressed despair over losing the chance to access his home’s ruins, as the entire area has become a major debris collection site.

Khalij has become a central debris dump, but private properties within the city, particularly unused lands in residential clusters, have also been repurposed. For instance, Widad’s family owns agricultural land west of the city’s “Construction Societies” area near the railway. Widad said that her family land is now a dump for debris collected from nearby buildings. The Construction Society site comprises licensed multi-storey buildings in a zoned area that suffered only minor damage during the war, allowing partial return of Internally Displaced People (IDP)Ps and refugees after renovations and the obtention of security approvals.

Similarly, Abu Ahmad, who owns agricultural land north of the city entrance, complained about his property being used as a dump without his consent. He noted that a private company is dumping debris extracted from the city on his and neighbouring lands.

Some debris removal operations in Darayya are managed by Noor Obeid Company, owned by Mohammed Sawan, a resident of the neighbouring city of Moadamiyeh known for his close ties with leaders of the Fourth Division controlling the area. The company’s board chairman, Mohammad Khair Al-Halabi, stated in a televised interview on the state-run Al-Mahaliya channel on July 31, that his company plays an active role in reconstruction by demolishing unsafe buildings and removing debris as part of a “solidarity initiative to support the local community,” approved by the Rural Damascus Governorate Council. Mr Halabi highlighted coordination with the Public Safety Committee of the Rural Damascus governorate but did not clarify whether the company had formal permissions for demolition and debris removal. He mentioned the company’s use of heavy machinery such as bulldozers, demolition equipment, and trucks.

The company focuses on moving debris to areas surrounding the city and other sites inside it, The Syria Report’s correspondent noted. However, during the summer of 2024, it also demolished some buildings in the Construction Societies under the pretext of structural unsafety. Local residents argued these buildings were only partially damaged and could have been repaired, but they were not structurally unsound. Amid difficulties in verifying accurate information, rumours have spread that the company targets structurally intact homes owned by absentee residents to extract and recycle iron from the debris.

Residents’ concerns prompted Rural Damascus Governor Ahmad Ibrahim Khalil to reassure them during a meeting with Darayya community leaders at the end of September. He stated that no damaged building would be demolished without inspection by a committee formed by the governorate and the Engineers Syndicate, to assess its condition and ensure it cannot be restored.

Property Fraud and Poor Services in the Yarmouk Palestinian Refugee Camp

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Recent reports of increased property fraud in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus have prompted many displaced property owners to temporarily return, inspect their properties, and implement some protective measures such as installing doors and windows for houses and securing locks for shops. These individuals are required to obtain temporary security clearance to visit the camp.

Activists from the camp, including lawyer NourEddin Salman, have issued repeated warnings on social media in recent months about widespread property fraud occurring in the camp. These fraudulent activities have resulted in a surge of illicit property sales, with an increasing number of homes being sold illegally. A gang is reportedly selling many shares in undivided common properties in the area between Loubieh Street and the Yarmouk Girls’ School and has allegedly amassed around SYP 2 billion through this fraudulent and deceitful scheme, according to activists. Mr Salman advised anyone looking to purchase property in the camp to first inquire with neighbours about the seller and the property, verify ownership documents, ensure the validity of the sales contract, and obtain a current description of the property’s condition and boundaries from a court-appointed expert engineer.

Wafaa, a displaced resident of the camp now living in Damascus, learned from one of her former neighbours that a few individuals recently inspected her uninhabited house on Al-Urubah Street in the camp with the intent to buy it, according to a correspondent for The Syria Report. When Wafaa’s neighbour inquired, the individuals claimed they were there to view the house, which they said was for sale by its owner. After a discussion, the neighbour identified the person who falsely claimed ownership of Wafaa’s house and was trying to sell it. Based on this information, Wafaa filed a complaint with the Yarmouk Camp police station, which managed to detain the alleged seller who claimed ownership of her house. However, according to Wafaa, this individual was able to bribe the police officers, who then wrote in their report that the incident was a mistake rather than fraud, stating that the seller had mistakenly identified the house due to changes in the area’s landmarks caused by destruction.

Nizar, a Syrian Palestinian refugee from Yarmouk Camp currently residing in Sweden, told The Syria Report that he learned through friends still living in the camp that unknown individuals are renovating a house that belonged to Nizar’s grandfather. The house, located on Thalatheen Street, is partially damaged due to the fighting. Nizar confirmed that he has a court ruling proving his late grandfather’s ownership of the property. He added that his grandfather died in 2010, and then his father was killed in a bombing on the camp at the beginning of 2015, and consequently, the 105-square-metre house became the property of 21 heirs, including Nizar.

He noted that complications prevented them from completing the inheritance process, including the war, the siege of the camp, and the disruption of official institutions. Additionally, none of the heirs remains in Syria except for his uncle, who is disabled and unable to manage his affairs. Two of the heirs are missing, and their whereabouts are unknown.

The inheritance inventory document is the primary document used to determine the names of the deceased’s heirs, their relationship to the deceased, and their respective shares of the inheritance. This document can only be issued after the death of the testator, the registration of their death in the civil registry, and the issuance of a death certificate and a family record for the heirs. After this, the relevant court can be approached to obtain the inheritance certificate. The court then appoints an expert to identify the heirs and their shares of the estate.

Nizar pointed out that those renovating his grandfather’s property have a court-certified purchase contract for the house. He is unsure how someone without ownership was able to sell it to them. He plans to appoint a lawyer to challenge the validity of the sale contract in court.

According to The Syria Report’s correspondent, one of the common practices in the camp currently involves seizing adjacent properties or parts of them during the renovation of a specific property. This is done by encroaching on portions of neighbouring properties, exploiting the destruction and the loss of landmarks. According to activists in the camp, it appears that an influential person has usurped land next to the vegetable market on Palestine Street, which belongs to the General Authority of Palestinian Arab Refugees. The land previously contained buildings and homes that were destroyed, leaving only rubble, allowing the influential person to seize the land and build on it.

The correspondent reported that a real estate office employee in the camp mentioned that some fraud attempts were thwarted after news about them spread on social media. He added that with the increasing number of returnees to the camp, it is rare to find a neighbourhood without at least one inhabited house, which now serves as an early warning network for property owners in the same area, who often share relationships or kinship.

According to estimates by the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria in early June, approximately 50,000 people have returned to the Yarmouk Camp. Despite the concerted efforts by the returnees to improve the camp’s service conditions, they face many difficulties and challenges. For instance, the camp remains isolated from neighbouring areas, with only one entry and exit point via the Batikha roundabout in the Zahira neighbourhood.

Most areas of the camp still suffer from significant problems, such as some streets around the Yarmouk Camp cemetery and the entrance to the Zain neighbourhood (administratively part of Yalda) being flooded with sewage water from damaged and decayed pipes. Potholes abound on Safad Street, making it difficult for vehicles to pass, which hinders the return of displaced residents to the area. The lack of drinking water in many neighbourhoods and the absence of electricity limit stability in some regions. Residents of School Street have requested an electricity supply, but to no avail. Even Haifa Avenue, opposite the building of the Public Establishment for Transmission and Distribution of Electricity (PETDE), remains without electrical coverage. Residents resort to installing electric cables at their own expense in areas without electricity, but these either get stolen or removed by the PETDE, citing network infringement.

Rubble presents a major issue across most of the camp, still densely scattered in the Wasim Project, the Moroccan neighbourhoods, Safad Street, Kafr Qasim Street, and others. This problem is exacerbated by returnees clearing debris from their homes and neighbourhoods, often dumping it around the houses or transporting it to the PETDE’s land area on Thalatheen Street.

Meanwhile, the camp municipality has begun allowing owners of completely destroyed houses to remove the debris and manage it. Typically, these owners make agreements with building contractors to remove the rubble for free in exchange for the contractors taking the iron and metals from the debris to sell to metal traders.

Though Some Displaced Christians Return to Arbin, Others Remain in Damascus

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Hala, a Christian, lived with her family in the East Ghouta city of Arbin before 2011. She owned an apartment in a licensed multi-storey building in a zoned area. Although most of her family were involved in the carpentry and home furniture trade Arbin was known for, she found a job she said was “more stable” as an employee in a public sector institution.

Hala, like other Christian women in Arbin, was mindful of the conservative social norms in the predominantly Sunni area, especially regarding dress codes and movement times. The number of Christians in Arbin was around 2,000 before 2011, most of them Greek Orthodox, deeply rooted in the city, living in neighbourhoods like Mary’s and Al-Waaz, Sagha Street, and the Harasta-Arbin road area, freely practising their religious rituals in St. George’s Church, founded in 1873. Christians were known for goldsmithing and trading, and they established significant businesses like the “Rajiha Wood Trading Company” and car parts selling companies, among others.

With the start of the uprising in 2011, most Christians of Arbin took a rather neutral stance, leaning towards loyalty to the regime. However, following the appointment of Dawoud Rajiha, a Christian from Arbin, as Minister of Defence in August 2011, some Christians received threats from the city’s armed individuals to leave if they did not show opposition to the regime. By the end of 2011, some Christian families, including Hala’s, started to leave Arbin, fearing the worsening situation.

In July 2012, Minister Rajiha was killed in the National Security building explosion in Damascus and armed opposition factions took control of the largest regime checkpoints in the city of Arbin. Then, the regime forces besieged the city, bombarding it with mortar shells, rocket launchers and helicopter raids. The regime forces allowed the remaining Christians in the city to leave.

State media has highlighted the issue of Arbin’s Christians more than once, attempting to turn their displacement into a public opinion issue that fits into the regime’s narrative about a minority alliance.

Hala says that the Christians from Arbin who were displaced to Damascus received state attention and assistance on several occasions. Her family was able to re-establish their business after obtaining a loan from an official bank. They managed to rent a home in the Christian-majority district of Qassaa in Damascus, and due to their good financial situation, they did not need aid. Meanwhile, many Christian refugees from Arbin in Damascus received in-kind assistance and food aid from the Red Crescent. However, the rate of this assistance has significantly decreased over the last few years.

With the end of the fighting in Eastern Ghouta in 2018 and the regime forces regaining control after the forced displacement of the opposition, some Christian families began returning to Arbin. The first to return to the city were the poorest Christians, who were burdened by rental payments in Damascus and other facets of living in displacement, Hala explained. However, there soon emerged a clear trend among Christian businessmen to support the Christian refugees’ return to the city, organising campaigns to clear rubble and debris from the streets.

In January 2023, St. George’s Church and its associated school were officially reopened after being restored by Russia. Russia continues to provide food aid to all Arbin’s residents, Muslims and Christians alike, according to Hala. Russia also provided financial assistance for the partial restoration of damaged houses. Those wishing to receive aid had to submit a restoration request to the Arbin municipality, which sent engineering committees to assess the damage. It seems that those compensated were homeowners whose properties were less than 10 percent damaged. Houses with damage exceeding this percentage did not receive any compensation, which was the case for Hala, whose apartment was significantly more damaged.

Hala says that even if her home in Arbin were to be rehabilitated and restored, she would sell it. Given the extensive destruction in the city, the lack of restoration of essential services, and the disrupted transport links with the capital, she prefers living in Damascus, where she has found better living conditions and a wider social circle.

Mysterious Report Announces 50 Homes to be Restored in Darayya

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Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported on June 9 that the local council of Darayya, located in the Rural Damascus governorate, has received an approval to restore 50 houses in the city with the support of unnamed international organisations working in Syria. SANA added that these organisations are currently selecting another 60 homes for rehabilitation.

Because of its proximity to Damascus and the Mezzeh military airport, Darayya suffered a severe siege imposed by regime forces between 2012 and 2016. This resulted in the forced displacement of all its residents after entire neighbourhoods were levelled by regime airstrikes. In August 2018, the Rural Damascus governorate announced that the city’s displaced residents could return, provided they submit documents proving property ownership within the city and obtain prior security approval. In mid-2019, some families returned. 

Mundhir Al-Azab, the head of Darayya city council, told SANA that the owners of the 50 selected homes were among the lowest-income residents of the city. These houses were inhabited before they were damaged by people Al-Azab described as “terrorists.” They are structurally sound, licensed, and fall within the city’s zoning plan. He added that the same organisations have also chosen 20 commercial shops for rehabilitation.

Al-Azab mentioned that 23,000 homes and 4,000 shops had been rehabilitated by their owners in the city, while efforts are underway to rehabilitate more  by the civil community. A correspondent for The Syria Report expressed doubts about this figure, adding that rehabilitating 23,000 homes in the city would theoretically mean the return of approximately 100,000 displaced residents, while sources in the city indicate a population of around 25,000 at most, with some not being fully settled due to poor services.

The city undergoes strict power rationing, with electricity being supplied for just one hour daily. This, in turn, hampers the water supply to the inhabited homes’ tanks, forcing residents to purchase drinking and washing water at their own expense. The streets of Darayya are still filled with rubble and garbage. Many of the city’s buildings are  at risk of collapse and pose a public danger. For the most part, those who returned to the city are simply displaced people who have lost ties elsewhere and have not found another place to live.

Notably absent in SANA’s report and Al-Azab’s statements is the specific location of these homes, their owners and the international organisations funding the project. The city council has yet to share the SANA article on its public facebook page. Our correspondent could not determine the locations of these homes, their owners, or whether any closed-door tendering occurred for the renovation projects. The correspondent highlighted the city council’s failure to post any news about the renovations in its headquarters or on its internal announcement board. Via indirect communication, a local council member denied to  The Syria Report any knowledge of the project and expressed doubts about its existence altogether.

An informed source from the city told The Syria Report that the news might not be entirely accurate, and the work might not be a full renovation but merely a simple rehabilitation. The source added that the international organisations funding such projects are the ones setting criteria for selecting homes. Often, these organisations stipulate that the house must be inhabited by its owner and the properties have to be undamaged and habitable.

In any case, according to the local source, the process will not go beyond simple rehabilitation work, such as minor repairs, installing doors and windows, and distributing some household items. The source added that the city council frequently makes contracts for rehabilitating homes and government buildings with international NGOs, either through the Syrian Red Crescent or smaller local NGOs, making it hard to ascertain the primary funding source.

The Syria Report’s correspondent added, based on local sources, that the Darayya city council cannot undertake renovation or rehabilitation projects alone as its current budget does not allow for it. Even the government and official buildings, such as the Land Registry and municipal and financial offices were only minimally rehabilitated after the council launched campaigns to collect donations from the community. These buildings were equipped only with the bare minimum of furniture and equipment.

Jandares Two Months on from the Earthquake

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Over two months after the February 06 earthquake, the town of Jandares still suffers the impacts of the damage. The town is located in the Afrin region of the Aleppo governorate which is under the control of the Syrian Interim Government (SIG).

The quake virtually destroyed Jandares. It killed around 800 residents, destroyed 278 buildings, and damaged 1,100 buildings. The owners of these destroyed and damaged homes still live across four main shelter centres near the town and in small camps inside Jandares. 

Most original residents of Jandares are Kurds, and in 2012 the majority-Kurdish People’s Protection Units took control of the town. Then in 2018, Turkish-backed opposition factions seized Jandares in Operation Olive Branch, displacing many original residents. Meanwhile, many people forcibly displaced by regime forces from other parts of Syria formerly controlled by the opposition, namely Rural Damascus, Homs, and Hama, arrived and settled in Jandares. According to local council estimates, the town’s population in 2022 was around 115,000 people. 

Immediately after the earthquake, the Aleppo branch of the Free Syrian Engineers’ Syndicate formed comprehensive survey committees (Earthquake Damage Assessment Committees) to conduct field surveys on the 1,100 affected buildings in Jandares. In mid-March, these committees completed their work. They classified the buildings into three categories according to their level of damage: slight, moderate and severe. There were 45 severely damaged buildings. 

Afterwards, Jandares Local Council requested a central public safety committee, consisting of nine syndicate engineers, to inspect the severely damaged buildings and issue a final recommendation for either their removal or reinforcement. The committee decided to completely demolish most of these 45 buildings or demolish parts of them and reinforce the remaining sections.

It should be noted that the Engineers’ Syndicate signed a memorandum of understanding on February 19, 2023, with the non-governmental organisation Mercy Without Limits, which was founded in 2012 and licensed in Turkey. According to the memorandum, the organisation provides equipment, pays for building inspections, covers transportation costs and compensates the engineers.

The survey committees and the Central Safety Committee handed their results to the local council, which is now responsible for implementation. The local council has tasked its demolition and removal committee with issuing a final decision regarding the damaged buildings. Then, on April 06, the local council published a list of ten damaged buildings to destroy and gave their owners a three-day deadline to object. It is not yet clear what the legal mechanisms are in case any of the building owners object. Still, at the time of writing, the council has yet to receive any objections. Therefore, after the three-day deadline ends, the demolition and removal committee will knock down those buildings and remove their rubble. 

In the next stage, the Central Safety Committee will identify moderately damaged buildings requiring reinforcement. It may then decide to reinforce or demolish some buildings, as some moderate-risk buildings have suffered further damage with the earthquake aftershocks.

Samir Bouidani, head of the Central Safety Committee in the Aleppo branch of the Free Syrian Engineers’ Syndicate, explained to The Syria Report some of the engineering standards used to determine the safety of local buildings. For example, the committee removed any building that showed a visible slant, even with no cracks. And any decision to reinforce a building depends on the cost not exceeding 50 percent of the cost of its concrete structure. Here, costs are the deciding factor.

According to Mr Bouidani, determining which reinforcement method to use is not the Central Safety Committee’s job, as each building requires its own specialised engineering study. Therefore, the Engineers’ Syndicate, in coordination with the local council and with the consent of the building owners, refer the matter to private engineering offices licensed. It is still unclear whether any governmental or non-governmental organisations will contribute or fund such reinforcement and restoration for buildings that require this work before being inhabited again.

On the other hand, individual restoration projects on slightly damaged houses have taken place in the town, albeit out of the owners’ pockets. Such work includes rebuilding walls using blocks and cement, plastering, repairing windows, doors, and external walls and repairing inner courtyards. This restoration work often does not include any metal or reinforced concrete for columns and beams. These projects pose risks, including masking the harmful effects of the earthquake on the building’s structural mass, which could mean dangers to these buildings in the future.

As for removing the debris, work is still unorganised as there is no legal mechanism to protect the rights of homeowners’ rubble. NGOs are still working to remove debris from Jandares in cooperation with the local council and the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets. On April 04, the Syrian NGO Takaful Al-Sham, registered in Turkey since 2013, launched the Balsam Project to remove debris and rehabilitate several markets and roads within Jandares, according to the “cash for work” principle. However, like other projects launched by non-governmental organisations, Balsam did not clarify that the debris is the last evidence of the owners’ ownership of their collapsed homes or the fate of the original properties and possessions upon which they were built.

Syrian Engineers’ Syndicate and the February 6 Earthquake

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On February 27, 2023, the Syrian Engineers’ Syndicate Central Council issued Decision No. 4, which reduces the fees levied by engineers to assess the condition of damaged buildings in the governorates most impacted by the February 6 earthquake: Lattakia, Aleppo, Hama and Idlib. That same day, the head of the syndicate approved the decision through his own Decision No. 27, which in turn was approved by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing Decision No. 1698. 

Engineers’ Syndicate Decision No. 4 of 2023

Decision No. 4 intends to provide a unified system for collecting various engineering fees and aims to bring an end to the pricing chaos that accompanied the February 6 quake. Previously, local branches of the syndicate issued separate decisions to determine these fees in earthquake-damaged areas, without referring to the Central Council.

Decision No.4 consists of six paragraphs, the first four of which address lowering the fees  usually charged by engineers for inspecting buildings, conducting engineering studies or supervising restoration works. Paragraph five lays out the financial contributions of the syndicate to engineers’ fees. Finally, paragraph six reaffirms that Engineers’ Syndicate Decision No. 43 of 2022 is the reference text for determining engineering fees, which are referred to in last month’s Decision No. 4 as “applicable fees”. 

Depending on whether the studies and reports are requested by building owners or by the local administrative units the discount offered on engineering fees is either partial or full. For example, if a local administrative unit requests a technical evaluation report for a building, the engineers are required to prepare it for free. When building owners make a request for inspecting and carrying out a study of the condition of their building, engineers will also not charge fees on licensed buildings or facilities that suffered earthquake damage. However, they are entitled to charge up to 50 percent of their usual fees to supervise restoration works.

Engineers’ Syndicate Decision No. 43 of 2022

Usually, the syndicate issues an annual list of fees for engineering work. The current list of applicable fees was published in the syndicate’s 114-page Decision No. 43 of 2022. Consisting of 14 chapters, the decision lists the minimum fees for civil, architectural, electrical, mechanical, chemical, geological, environmental, software and medical engineering work. It also includes the fees for studies and supervision of various types of facilities, as well as for executive and economic feasibility studies, engineering supervision and more. 

Decision No. 43 sets the engineering fees for new construction projects as follows: engineering study fees are 1.5 percent of the cost of construction. This study must in turn be inspected by a consultant engineer whose fee is one-third that of the engineering study — i.e., 0.5 percent of the approved construction cost. The fee for the engineer supervising the implementation of a residential construction project is 2.5 percent of the construction cost. In short, the total fees for study, inspection and supervision come out to 4.5 percent of the construction cost. 

Regarding reinforcement work, Decision No. 43 sets a flat fee of SYP 48,825 for reinforcement studies of each structural element (retaining walls, shear walls, foundations, etc.), provided the amount earned by the engineer to perform the study is no less than SYP 167,400 fee. The inspecting engineer and supervising engineer each receive a sum equal to one-third the studying engineer’s fee. 

Key takeaways from Decision No. 4 of 2023

The decision only applies to governorates that were considered the worst impacted by the February 6 quake, despite some buildings in other governorates like Homs, Rural Damascus and Tartous suffering partial or total collapse in the disaster. This means that owners of damaged buildings in those governorates must pay the full fees incurred, such as those for licensing, studies, inspection and implementation, in addition to any reconstruction costs. 

The syndicate also exempted owners of licensed, destroyed buildings in earthquake-affected governorates from paying some fees if they reconstruct their buildings according to previously approved plans. In other words, the syndicate is exempting them from paying the fees for already-completed engineering studies. Notably, however, this means those buildings are being reconstructed without taking into account the reasons they collapsed, putting them at risk of collapsing yet again if stricken by an earthquake of the same magnitude. The decision also states that the local administrative unit is the entity that may approve modifications to a building plan undergoing reconstruction, albeit without specifying reasons for those modifications. 

The End of the Damascus Traditional Crafts Souk

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In October 2022, the Ministry of Tourism warned occupants of traditional handicrafts workshops and stores in Al-Suleimaniyeh Hospice area in Damascus that they must vacate their businesses before the end of 2022 to allow for restoration work on the hospice. The ministry also cancelled investment contracts for store occupants in the local souk, a sign that the evictions are final. 

The historic hospice

Al-Suleimaniyeh Hospice was founded in the 16th century during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman Al-Qanuni, with construction supervised by Mimar Sinan, a chief Ottoman architect. In the Ottoman Islamic tradition, a hospice was a resting place to provide food and shelter to pilgrims travelling to Mecca during Hajj, and to the poor during the rest of the year. 

Al-Suleimaniyeh Hospice consists of two main architectural complexes: the first contains a mosque and the hospice grounds, and the second Al-Sulaymaniyah School and a surrounding souk. The school building held the Military Museum until 2011. The souk, meanwhile, has been home to the traditional handicrafts market since the 1970s, containing around 40 traditional Damascene craft shops, such as glass and seashell workers and makers of traditional Damascene textiles like the aghabani fabric. The market also hosts the Damascus Sheikhs of Alkar, the most prominent craftspeople of their trades, such as those involved in copper engraving, Damascene swords, oud instruments, damask cloth, ceramics, stained glass and traditional aqal headbands. 

Restoration

There was a project in 2010 to restore the hospice with the help of the Turkish government, but it halted due to the onset of the revolution in 2011. The Syria Trust for Development, an NGO run by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s wife Asma al-Assad, presented a study in 2020 proposing a multi-stage process to restore the hospice. However, the trust did not reveal many details about the project, amid rumours about a for-profit investment scheme targeting business people and leaving out the traditional craftspeople of the hospice.  

Structurally, the hospice has no cracks that threaten collapse. However, it does need partial restoration work that would not require evacuating the craft workers, the head of the Traditional Professions Division of the Union of Syrian Chambers of Tourism told the state-run Tishreen newspaper in March 2020. He is also among the craftspeople working in Al-Suleimaniyeh Hospice. In another recent statement from October 28, 2022, he suggested that the Ministry of Tourism temporarily move the traditional handicrafts souk to another location until the completion of restoration work. The ministry did not respond to his suggestion. 

Investment contracts

The stores inside the traditional handicrafts market are endowment properties. Before 2000, those stores were leased under the supervision of various Ministry of Endowments directorates. Tenants pay gifts to these directorates alongside a merely symbolic annual rent. Though the leases have fixed terms, they are subject to implicit renewal. The provisions for lease contracts in Syria’s Civil Code apply to these properties, on the condition that they be registered by the Ministry of Endowments and its subdirectories. 

However, in 2000, supervision of the souk was inexplicably transferred from the Ministry of Endowments to the Ministry of Tourism, which replaced the old lease contracts for the shops with investment contracts that were to be renewed annually. 

Then in October 2022, the Ministry of Tourism terminated these investment contracts with the shop occupants and warned them to vacate the properties within two months. In official statements that same month, the tourism minister said that, according to the investment contracts, the ministry has the right to end the contracts in the traditional handicrafts market at any time and may retake the vacated shops within the given deadline. 

Meanwhile, the deputy tourism minister stated that the investment contracts may not be automatically renewed if one of the parties does not notify the other of their desire to renew it within one month before the stated end of the contract period. He added that the Ministry of Tourism also may vacate the shops for purposes of the public interest before the end of the contract period without the shopkeepers having the right to claim damages. According to him, the shop investors must vacate the shops immediately, within the deadline given by the ministry. Those who refuse to vacate must bear the costs of vacating their stores through administrative means so long as all obligations they incur through these contracts are collected according to the principles of collection of public assets. 

Souks in Homs to be Included in the Recent Tax Exemptions Decree

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In August, Decree No. 13 of 2022 was issued, granting extensive tax concessions and exemptions within old city centres in the Aleppo, Homs, and Deir-ez-Zor governorates, including the historic souks. While waiting for the decree’s executive instructions to be published, however, government officials have given contradictory statements about the souks and districts in the city of Homs that the decree will cover. 

Homs is home to a historic market known as Souk Al-Masqouf, or the Covered Souk in English. Several other souks branch out from this one, some dating back to the Mamlouk era. The most important of these souks are the Al-Nouri Souk, the Textile Souk, the Perfumers’ Souk, the Silk Souk, the Goldsmiths’ Souk, the Distillers’ Souk, the Cloakmakers’ Souk, the Tailors’ Souk, Al-Hisbeh Souk, Al-Bazerbashi Souk, and the Womens’ Souk. Many of these souks specialise in certain goods, as their names indicate. There are around 1,000 total shops in Homs’ historic souks and some palaces and homes surrounding them.

The historic Souk Al-Masqouf, as well as its connected souks, are all part of the city’s Central Souk, the commercial centre of the Old City of Homs. There are some old popular markets within the Central Souk, such as Souk Al-Naoureh and Souk Al-Hamidiyeh. It is unclear whether Decree No. 13 will cover the entire Central Souk, or just Souk Al-Masqouf and the historic souks that branch off it. Recent official statements contradict one another over how the Old City, the Central Souk, the historic souks, and other commercial souks are distinguished.

In late August, the governor of Homs announced that preparations were underway to start tallying the shops in need of restoration within the city’s historic souk area. He added that lists of taxes and fees for specific crafts and professions, as well as for income taxes, debts, and consumer spending, are also being prepared. Decree No. 13 is to grant exemptions for those payments. 

The head of the Homs City Council has stated that the decree includes tax exemptions for destroyed shops and homes within the Old City that need restoration. The historic souk area, he added, contains 15 such souks, 390 of which have reopened. Some 600 shops have been restored, while 200 are ready to reopen and have yet to do so. 

Souk Al-Masqouf

Between 2000 and 2005, Japan funded restoration works for Souk Al-Masqouf in cooperation with the Homs governorate and Directorate of Antiquities. The work included repairing cracks in the walls and depressions in floors, reinforcing some building foundations, cleaning, and installing lights. 

But later, between 2012 and 2014, Souk Al-Masqouf became a frontline between regime and rebel forces in Homs’ Old City. Much of the area was damaged due to the fighting, in addition to regime missiles and artillery fire. Regime forces later forcibly displaced residents from all parts of Old Homs in 2014. The displacement soon led to widespread violations of the housing, land, and property rights in the old Homs and the Souk Al-Masqouf.

Afterwards, seemingly intentional fires broke out, damaging most of the shops in Souk Al-Masqouf, while looters seized anything they could dismantle and recycle, including metals and other debris, water piping, electrical wires, and phone lines. 

In 2015, a committee formed to undertake restoration and rehabilitation works in Souk Al-Masqouf. Representatives of the Homs governorate, the city council, the directorates of antiquities and museums, the Chamber of Commerce, and other government entities and offices served on the committee. There were also representatives from the city’s local community. 

Restoration work began in 2016 in Souk Al-Masqouf and some other smaller souks, with support from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Japan. 

The work was split into four stages, with the first three so far complete. 

The first stage lasted from 2016 to 2017 and included reopening the main roads in Souk Al-Masqouf and the other historic markets branching off of it. Rubble was also removed from these areas. 

Second, in 2017, rubble found in Souk Al-Masqouf was recycled according to charts and plans available at the Homs municipality and the directorates of antiquities and museums. Some 680 partially damaged shops were also restored, which included installing new floors and ceilings. 

The third phase, in 2019, aimed to rehabilitate infrastructure in the souk, including rehabilitating electrical, water, sewage, and landline networks; rebuilding the frameworks of destroyed shops; installing metal doors; and cleaning passageways. This phase also saw the installation of streetlights and power transformers throughout the souk. 

Finally, in February 2022, Syria requested that the UNDP fund the fourth stage of the rehabilitation project. This stage is meant to restore 179 shops in some of Souk Al-Masqouf’s side streets and the Goldsmiths’ Souk and the Tailors’ Souk. 

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