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SSG Sets Criteria for Establishing Housing Cooperatives in Idlib

17-09-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

The General Directorate of Housing and Reconstruction (GDHR), under the Ministry of Local Administration and Services of the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG), issued Decision No. 328 on August 21, approving the official procedures for establishing new housing cooperatives operating in Idlib, north-western Syria.

This mirrors the efforts of the Cooperative Housing Directorate under the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in the Damascus Government, which oversees the cooperative housing sector. Housing cooperatives provide affordable housing.

Previously, the SSG, affiliated with hardline Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, had, through the Ministry of Local Administration and Services’ Decision No. 52 of 2018, dissolved the boards of directors of existing housing cooperatives. These boards were later reformed through elections supervised by the GDHR, based on Decision No. 599 of 2023 from the ministry. As a result of these decisions, several housing cooperatives were dissolved, while some had their boards elected and resumed operations.

Idlib counts 162 housing cooperatives, some of which are inactive or still in the process of being established, AbdulMoneim Al-Hout, head of the GDHR, told The Syria Report. There is no precise count of the beneficiaries of these cooperatives, but it is estimated that each cooperative typically consists of around 100 people. In 2024, one new cooperative was established, and two more are in the process of being formed.

Decision No. 328 of 2024 was based on SSG Prime Ministerial Decision No. 83, issued in April 2024, which outlines the regulations for housing cooperatives. According to Mr Al-Hout, the regulations in Decision No. 83 streamlined the procedures to a minimum while ensuring that the rights of cooperative members are safeguarded. He added that if a cooperative is unable to hold a general assembly meeting to elect a new board of directors due to the displacement of its members, the GDHR allows the attendance of their representatives. If this is not possible, the Directorate permits members of a single project within the cooperative to attend, form a committee, and oversee their project’s operations. If this too is unfeasible, the attendance of members from a single plot designated for construction is accepted, allowing them to form a committee and complete their plot.

The housing cooperatives’ regulations, outlined in Decision No. 83 of 2024, consist of eight chapters and 121 articles. These cover the objectives of cooperatives according to the SSG’s vision, the procedures for their establishment, membership conditions, management, member priorities based on seniority, subscription, allocation, handover, liquidation, the financial system of the cooperative, oversight, dissolution, and merging.

Decision No. 328 of 2024 also stipulates that the formation of a new housing cooperative must begin with the appointment of a temporary committee made up of three members representing the cooperative’s founders, who must number at least 20 individuals. This committee is responsible for appearing before the GDHR. The temporary committee is tasked with completing the official incorporation form and submitting an application to establish the cooperative.

According to Decision 328 of 2024, the temporary committee is responsible for submitting the founders’ documentation, ensuring they meet certain criteria. For instance, a founder must be a Syrian citizen, at least 18 years old, residing either in Idlib or elsewhere as permitted by the GDHR, not a beneficiary of housing provided by any public entity or cooperative with similar objectives, and must not own independent property along with their minor children.

Once the GDHR approves the establishment of the cooperative, the temporary committee calls for the first meeting of the cooperative’s founding assembly, during which a board of directors is elected. The temporary committee then hands over all documents, funds, and responsibilities to the newly elected board, after which the temporary committee is dissolved.

The cooperative is officially registered by publishing its establishment decision in the Official Gazette issued by the SSG, including the cooperative’s name, its registration code in the GDHR records, its address, headquarters, and the names of its board members. From the date of publication, the establishment decision comes into effect, granting the cooperative legal status.

Explained: The Rental Housing Market in Idlib

14-11-2023/in Analysis & Features, HLP /by Rand Shamaa

The past two months of aerial and artillery bombing on Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham-controlled Idlib by regime forces and the Russian Air Force have resulted in the displacement of thousands of residents, especially from the city of Idlib. Nevertheless, the prices of house rentals in the city have not decreased, and obtaining housing there remains a difficult task, exclusively managed by private real estate offices.

The population of Idlib City is estimated to be about 380,000, while the population of Idlib governorate in areas under the control of HTS-linked Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) is about 3.48 million, 51 percent of whom are displaced persons, spread over an area of 5,651 square kilometres, according to the latest statistics issued by the Assistance Coordination Unit (ACU) in December 2022.

According to a correspondent for The Syria Report in the region, rental prices in Idlib city are more than double those in its nearby countryside. Demand for rentals in the city is increasing due to the concentration of municipal and service institutions, hospitals, and the university.

There are about 100 licensed real estate offices in Idlib, the director of technical services in the city told The Syria Report. These offices often agree among themselves on unified pricing for rentals in the city according to locations.

To licence a real estate office in Idlib, one must apply to the SSG’s Ministry of Local Administration and Services, along with a real estate record and a cadastral plan for the office or a rental contract for it, in addition to the personal data of the office owners. The Ministry of Local Administration and Services grants these offices official contract books to document rental transactions, and these contracts are supposed to be authenticated by a notary. Whether licensed or not, the SSG has no decisions or procedures in place to oversee the operation of the offices and to impose penalties on those that violate regulations.

For each residential rental transaction, the offices charge a commission equal to one month’s rent, half from the tenant and half from the landlord. For example, if the rental value is USD 150 per month, the real estate office collects USD 300 for the first month: USD 150 as the rental value and USD 150 as a one-time commission. Thus, the tenant pays USD 225 in the first month, and the landlord pays USD 75.

The average rental property in Idlib city is a 100-square-metre residence in a multi-storey building in the western and southern neighbourhoods of the city, with a value ranging between USD 150-250 per month. However, rentals in some of the more upscale neighbourhoods of Idlib city, such as Al-Qusur and Al-Rawdah, can reach around USD 600 for large, furnished detached houses. Non-governmental organisations often rent these homes to convert them into offices. Smaller residences of about 50 square metres in popular neighbourhoods and old buildings can also be rented for around USD 50 per month.

One displaced family from the southern countryside of Idlib has been residing in the Dabait neighbourhood of Idlib city since 2021, paying a monthly rent of USD 125. Their rental contract expired last October. During this period, Idlib city was under artillery shelling by regime forces, prompting many residents to flee to more stable areas in the northern countryside of Idlib. Nevertheless, the real estate office responsible for the house refused to renew the contract for the family unless the rent was increased to USD 175. The office owner explained that the house is in demand as it is on the ground floor, offering its inhabitants more protection than the upper floors.

In its Decision No. 121 issued in February 2022, the SSG required documenting rental contracts at its Ministry of Justice, specifying the rental period as one year with the possibility of renewal. The decision also mandated the explicit inclusion of the monthly rental value in the contract, in Turkish Lira or U.S. Dollars, and granted the landlord the right to evict the tenant at the end of the rental period.

The Syria Report’s correspondent reported that the process of documenting rental contracts is generally rare. This is mainly because real estate offices prefer to avoid official procedures, wishing not to adhere to rules related to the duration of contracts and rental values. These offices prefer to find tenants who accept short-term contracts with the possibility of increasing the rent. Some real estate offices rent properties whose owners live outside Idlib with annual contracts and, in turn, sublet them to other tenants under contracts that are not officially documented by any authority.

SSG Demolishes Idlib Residential Buildings for Road Expansion

11-10-2023/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

The Ministry of Local Administration and Services in the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) began a campaign in September to demolish properties and homes to widen the road connecting the city of Al-Dana to the town of Deir Hassan, in northern Idlib countryside. The demolition operations included both licensed and unlicensed buildings. The road expansion aims to alleviate the severe traffic congestion in the area, which is home to many camps for Syrian IDPs.

Those opposed to the road expansion say it has had negative impacts on shops and building owners, who have not received compensation. They believe it benefits some traders who purchased properties on either side of the road, anticipating their value to rise after the expansion. The road expansion is expected to attract investors interested in establishing shopping centres, restaurants and parks on both sides of the road, similar to the situation on the Bab Al-Hawa-Idlib highway.

Many buildings were constructed on both sides of the road after 2011, during the period when the area fell out of the regime’s control, and before the establishment of the opposition-run local councils in northern Idlib. Later, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Al-Nusra Front) would take control of the area in 2014.

One local homeowner told The Syria Report that he built his home in late 2011 on land he owns. However, he expanded his construction onto land earmarked for road expansion in the old zoning plan for the area. Last June, like other property owners, he received a notice from the Ministry of Local Administration and Services to vacate and demolish the parts of the building that were unlicensed. Then, in September, the ministry forced the owners of unlicensed buildings to demolish them themselves and remove the rubble at their own expense. Those owners received no compensation for their demolished properties. They also received no financial or logistical assistance in demolishing them, as they were built on public property without a licence, as the local homeowner said.

Notably, the ministry did not issue a decision to expropriate the targeted lands for road expansion and has no clear legal methodology for compensating the owners.

Saeed Al-Ashqar, an advisor to the SSG’s Minister of Local Administration and Services, told The Syria Report that the demolished buildings were mostly unlicensed and built within the road expansion zone. He refuted claims made by some owners of demolished unlicensed buildings that they received no compensation. He said that only three unlicensed buildings were completely demolished, and their owners were compensated, without specifying the amount or method. The owners of nine other partly-demolished unlicensed buildings were compensated.

Licensed buildings were demolished in agreement with their owners, and they received compensation from the SSG, according to Mr Al-Ashqar, who did not specify the compensation amount. Licensed buildings that were demolished date back to a time before the old zoning plan, which included road expansion. In contrast, licensed buildings set back from the road by a minimum distance and with a front setback were not demolished.

Mr Al-Ashqar further argued that the road serves over a quarter of a million people. The road’s expansion and rehabilitation are initiatives by the Ministry of Local Administration to stimulate trade and the economy in the area and address the traffic congestion. A new zoning plan for Al-Dana city was introduced at the beginning of 2022, including road expansion. Al-Ashqar said that the expansion will increase the road’s width to 24 metres over a distance of 1,750 metres, and the area will be serviced with the necessary infrastructure, including electricity, water, and sewage networks.

SSG Transfers Civil Administration Powers from Local Councils to New Centralised Municipalities

12-09-2023/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

The Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) affiliated with the hardline Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham is working to sideline local councils in the area under its control and implement a new administrative system based on so-called centralised municipalities – a move that comes after it also sidelined the Free Engineers’ Syndicate in Idlib in May.

The SSG’s Ministry of Local Administration and Services is the entity in charge of this measure, justifying it as part of the aftermath of the devastating February 6 earthquake that struck northwestern Syria.

The ministry has held local councils and the Free Engineers’ Syndicate responsible for the spread of dangerous unlicensed construction prior to the quake. Despite opposition from the local councils and the syndicate, the ministry appears determined to fast-track implementation of the new Central Municipalities law, even though the law has yet to be officially issued. Notably, the draft law strips most technical and administrative duties away from the local councils and gives them to the newly formed centralised municipalities.

If passed, the law would see the Idlib governorate divided into eight municipalities, according to Mohammad Saeed Al-Ashqar, an advisor to the SSG’s Minister of Local Administration. These eight municipalities will be specialised technical bodies with a unified regulatory framework. They will issue all types of permits and carry out technical inspections on buildings during their construction, in addition to overseeing licensed facilities. Each municipality will have reception centres spread across its geographical jurisdiction, with a potential total of up to 30 centres. These reception centres will handle various complaints and licensing requests, settle issues with non-compliant properties, and then forward them to their relevant central municipality.

There is also likely to be a new electoral process for the local councils in all administrative units, after which all elected members within each of the eight central municipalities will form an electoral body to appoint the municipal council. Meanwhile, the role of local councils will be limited to social representation, namely, conveying the concerns of the people to the regional administration. This means the local councils will no longer provide technical and administrative services within their jurisdictions.

The law is likely to be issued in early 2024, yet the Ministry of Local Administration appears to be behaving as if it is already in effect. For example, the ministry has already gone ahead with dividing Idlib into the eight planned administrative regions and establishing a centralised municipality in each, directly appointing its members without any electoral process. The municipalities are: Idlib District Municipality, Central District Municipality, Northern District Municipality, Ariha Municipality, Sarmada Municipality, Atma Municipality, Harem Municipality, and Jisr al-Shughour Municipality.

The ministry has also begun issuing directives to these new municipalities, such as Directive No. 14 on June 1, which addresses buildings owned collectively and how they should be treated in their current state, as well as granting licences after preparing a technical subdivision plan that complies with the building code.

According to the ministry, the new centralised municipalities law is necessary due to the lack of technical expertise from local councils, especially during the period before the devastating earthquake. By “technical expertise,” they mean the scientific and engineering experience suitable for Idlib.

The ministry refuses to simply rely on the Damascus government’s pre-existing Local Administration Law No. 107 of 2011, which today is still applied in regime-controlled areas. They also reject circulars and decisions related to municipalities issued by Damascus’ Ministry of Local Administration and Environment.

Prior to the SSG’s new draft law, the lack of a unified engineering and legal reference in Idlib meant technical engineering matters were subject to tensions within the local councils’ technical offices, according to Ashqar. With the new centralised municipalities law, he added, the technical and engineering role will be assumed solely by the centralised municipalities and the Ministry of Local Administration.

With this role, centralised municipalities will deal with all the previous issues that were of concern to local councils: encroachments on public facilities and roads, forging of administrative transaction documents, building without a permit, pouring concrete ceilings without municipal engineering supervision, blocking roads with building materials or debris, supplying construction materials to an unlicensed site, and determining locations for commercial stalls and kiosks on roads and sidewalks.

However, one source from the local councils said they view the ministry’s new measures as monopolising public engineering and technical work, making such matters exclusively the purview of the SSG. The source added that this approach would increase centralisation and reduce flexibility in dealing with people’s day-to-day administrative issues.

While the source highlighted the importance of having a unified reference for municipal policies for engineering and zoning, they stated that the solution should not be to strip local councils, and by extension the Free Engineers’ Syndicate, of their powers. Instead, it would be more appropriate to enhance the authority of these bodies rather than concentrating power within the hands of the SSG alone.

Since the opposition took control of Idlib in 2012, followed by HTS several years later, no municipal elections have been held. The current local councils in Idlib are mostly appointed, with only a small portion selected through local consensus. They do not operate based on the Damascus government’s existing Local Administration Law No. 107 of 2011. Rather, in 2019, the SSG restructured local councils in its territory by establishing a Shura Council in each administrative unit to select local council members.

Previously, the SSG’s Ministry of Local Administration and Service issued Decision No. 307 on May 22, 2023, establishing the Directorate of Engineering Affairs, which is meant to take over most of the Free Engineers’ Syndicate’s former duties. This decision sparked many objections within the syndicate.

Some ministry sources said Decision No. 307 came in response to the catastrophic damage wrought by the February 6 quake, as well as the weak role by the syndicate in building and developing infrastructure and the lack of recent engineering studies to avoid such damage. However, the syndicate has denied responsibility for shoddy construction work before the earthquake and stressed that it does not have the executive authority to enforce building regulations.

HTS-Affiliated Contracting Company Begins Work on Residential Project in Idlib

08-08-2023/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

Al-Raqi Construction Company has begun implementing a residential project west of the city of Idlib to shelter displaced families currently living in camps on the city’s outskirts. The project is supported by three entities: the Turkey Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), which operates under the supervision of the Turkish Ministry of Interior; and two NGOs: the Deniz Feneri Association and the Way of Life Association, which operates in Turkey.

The project consists of 1,000 individual housing units, each measuring 85 square metres, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. It is located in a 65-hectare plot of public land belonging to the village of Kafr Jales, a source in the village told The Syria Report’s local correspondent. The Directorate of Camp Affairs within the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG), which in turn is affiliated with the hardline Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group that controls Idlib, is the body that chose the project site.

The area has rugged mountainous terrain without trees, which means land preparation and road construction make up a significant part of the housing project’s budget. A few dozen displaced people, most of whom were livestock breeders, had previously set up an informal camp in this area. The Directorate of Camp Affairs forced them to move to organised camps in the Atma area bordering Turkey.

AFAD paid for land levelling operations at the project site, while Deniz Feneri and Way of Life financed implementation of the remaining construction work. According to sources in the Directorate of Camp Affairs, the future recipients of housing in the project are displaced people currently residing in informal camps in the Kafr Jales area. However, as is usually the case, those close to HTS, including the families of its recruits and SSG employees, may be prioritised to receive housing within the project.

The Syria Report reached out to Deniz Feneri and Way of Life for comment on the land ownership and nature of the housing project, as well as whom it would benefit, but received no response.

The contract for implementing the project was awarded to Al-Raqi Construction Company, without competition. Sources confirmed to The Syria Report that there was a tender for the project, but no announcement, making it not a genuine tender process. Since the company was founded in 2020, nearly all housing projects and camps for IDPs in HTS-controlled areas have been implemented by Al-Raqi.

Al-Raqi specialises in implementing various contracting projects in HTS areas, from residential units and camps to road construction and other projects. The company is currently run by HTS commander AbdulRahman Salama, also known as Abu Ibrahim Salama. Salama, who is from the city of Andan north of Aleppo, held the position of Emir of Aleppo in Jabhat Al-Nusra during the opposition’s control of eastern Aleppo between 2012 and 2016.

There are rumours that Al-Raqi manages HTS’ investments and that some of the group’s leaders invest their money in the company. Al-Raqi carries out some for-profit projects, such as a residential compound called New Sarmada City, inhabited by the wealthy of Idlib, those close to HTS, and its leaders, and other projects such as shopping malls. It is not known who the members of the company’s board of directors are, but there are reports that they include prominent figures in HTS, some of whom own shares in it.

Al-Raqi constructed the Aleppo-Bab Al-Hawa road connecting the cities of Sarmada and Al-Dana, north of Idlib, on behalf of the SSG. Abu Ibrahim Salama appeared alongside the group leader, Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani, during the inauguration and opening ceremony of the road. The company is also undertaking the construction of the Bab Al-Hawa-Idlib road, and has completed about a third of it over the past two years.

The company is also building housing projects for displaced residents living in camps; such as a camp for the displaced in the Mishhad Rohin area, and the village of Kamouna for the forcibly displaced north of the town of Batbu, in addition to constructing Al-Bar village for the displaced in Jabal Klil. The company is currently drilling wells in the new Babesqa city project, including some residential blocks, an elevated water tank, a mosque and a school, paving the streets and extending the city’s electrical and internet lines.

An informed source told The Syria Report that other contracting companies could not get similar projects even if they submitted lower price bids in formal tenders. In most cases, the entities funding such projects, usually NGOs, concede to Al-Raqi to implement those projects, under pressure from HTS. In return, these organisations continue to finance their projects in Idlib without facing harassment.

Apart from its work in contracting, between 2021 and 2022, Al-Raqi implemented industrial projects, the most important of which is a factory for the production of iron for reinforced concrete works near the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing. The factory is meant to receive scrap and recycle it. There are also several nearby stoneworks factories and workshops for making tiles and concrete blocks, which use heavy machinery Al-Raqi bought from Turkey. Al-Raqi also took over public property in the mountainous areas around the Bab Al-Hawa region and the Barisha, Al-Wastani, and Al-Ala northwest Idlib highlands, which have a limestone rock formation, in order to produce white stone. The company is working on opening workshops and sawmills for the white limestone, part of which it exports through Turkey to the Gulf states and Egypt.

Idlib Engineers Protest SSG Decision to Sideline Them

01-08-2023/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

The Free Engineers’ Syndicate in Idlib is negogiating with the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG), the political arm of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, to amend parts of Decree No. 307, which the SSG’s Ministry of Local Administration and Services issued on May 22, 2023. The decree established a Directorate of Engineering Affairs within the ministry and assigned various tasks previously under the auspices of the Engineers’ Syndicate.

Sources from the ministry claimed that the decree stemmed from the devastating impacts of the February 6 earthquake and the lack of any role for the Syndicate in reconstruction or infrastructure development work. The source said there has also been a need for more recent engineering studies to keep up with the pace of construction and address resulting issues.

The earthquake caused the partial and complete collapse of hundreds of buildings in areas under SSG control in Idlib and Aleppo governorates. The scale of destruction was due, notably, to existing damage from previous bombings of the regime forces in the area, a lack of engineering supervision in zoning and implementation, and rapid urban expansion via unlicensed construction.

The SSG’s Ministry of Local Administration and Services issued Decree No. 307 based on a decision from the Presidency of the Shura Council, a quasi-legislative authority, and with the approval of the SSG’s prime minister.

The decree outlined the duties of the Directorate of Engineering Affairs, which include: examining all engineering plans related to administrative transactions within the Ministry of Local Administration and Services; examining engineering projects and studies in all work sectors; granting professional licenses to engineers; classifying engineering offices and companies; classifying and granting engineers’ rankings; and approving the engineering staff for studying and supervising all engineering studies in Idlib.

Decree No. 307 also cancelled the powers previously granted to entities carrying out the tasks mentioned above, making the newly established engineering directorate the sole entity empowered to do those duties. Those older entities include the Idlib Branch of the Free Engineers’ Syndicate, founded in 2014 in opposition-controlled areas. It has two branches: one in Idlib and another in Aleppo. In 2020, the Idlib branch was restructured and named the Syrian Engineers’ Syndicate-Idlib Branch, with 850 members. Decree No. 307 barred them from the revenue they previously received from engineering studies and supervision work, which had constituted the primary source of the Syndicate funding and served as the “Mutual Takaful Fund” for members. The Syndicate used to distribute the engineering work among its members, and those members received wages through that fund.

The Syria Report also understands that the Ministry of Local Administration and Services will now require contracting companies operating in Idlib to employ an engineer from its directorate, whose task will be supervising and monitoring the project implementation. Contractors must pay a salary to the delegated engineer of about USD 600 per month (in USD). This requirement was made without a formal written decision but communicated verbally to contractors and contracting companies hoping to continue working in SSG-controlled areas. The ministry also now requires its contractors to use concrete produced by the Ishebilia Stone Works Company (Ishbilia stands for Sevilla in Arabic). It is unclear who owns the company, located near the Bab Al-Hawa crossing north of Idlib. However, it produces gravel, sand, and concrete necessary for construction. Engineers from the ministry oversee the production of construction materials in the quarry and test them for their engineering properties.

The construction sector in Idlib has faced numerous crises in recent years, including the spread of unlicensed construction and the inability of municipal authorities and the Engineers’ Syndicate to enforce building codes. These problems were made more evident by the widespread destruction of the February 6 earthquake.

Saeed Al-Ashqar, an advisor to the SSG’s Minsitry of Local Administration and Services, told The Syria Report that it was necessary to impose stricter monitoring of all engineering studies provided by local engineering offices and companies to ensure adherence to the Syrian Arab Code and its appendix on the basic principles for earthquake-resistant building design, and to verify architectural plans and implementation of proper construction.

Meanwhile, the Syndicate has denied responsibility for the poor execution of construction works before the earthquake. One syndicate member told The Syria Report that most buildings damaged by the earthquake were built during a period of unlicensed construction and lack of permits, and the Syndicate does not have executive authority to enforce building regulations. The engineer added that the government and municipalities are the ones who enforce the law, grant building permits and follow up on their implementation. They are responsible for the chaos and informal construction, he added.

He also urged integration between the ministry and the Engineers’ Syndicate rather than removing certain powers from the latter. He added that the ministry has monopolised the engineering work, handpicking a few affiliated engineers, some of whom have less than one year of experience, and tasking them with monitoring the works of contracting companies. He added that Decree No. 307 favours the ministry at the expense of the Free Engineers’ Syndicate. This is in addition to the potential harm that could occur in the future to the proper functioning of construction as the Syndicate’s expertise is sidelined.

The Engineers’ Syndicate put forth great efforts after the earthquake, collaborating with the Ministry of Local Administration and its Technical Services Department to form committees of volunteer engineers and assess the damage, he said. These committees surveyed cracked buildings and evaluated their structural integrity, determining if they were fit for habitation or needed to be evacuated or repaired.

Amid the exchange of accusations between the two sides, a joint committee consisting of seven engineers from the Syndicate and the ministry was formed to study the rules of procedure governing the Syndicate’s work. The committee will determine the tasks of the Syndicate by preparing new rules of procedure and regulating the work of engineering offices and companies in Idlib. The committee is also working on establishing a financial system that will provide regular income for engineers and implement the decisions issued by the Syndicate’s elected general committee, the highest authority in the Syndicate.

SSG Registers Youth Housing Applicants in Idlib

11-07-2023/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

On July 5, the Syrian Salvation Government’s (SSG) Ministry of Local Administration and Services announced that it would grant a one-month time period (July 8-August 7, 2023) for the youth housing project applicants in Idlib to confirm their subscriptions to receive homes in the project.

This confirmation process is a new procedure and appears to be directed toward identifying applicants who are able and interested in resuming paying the instalments they owe for homes in the youth housing project, which has been suspended for years.

The July 8-August 7 confirmation period is the second period granted in less than two months and targets applicants who did not confirm their subscriptions during the two-week deadline ending on July 5. Those wishing to verify their subscriptions must go in person to present their subscription ledger and any receipts for previous payments in addition to their ID.

Youth housing is one type of social housing programmes implemented by public authorities across Syria. The programmes were suspended in areas outside regime control in 2011. In the Idlib governorate, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing had planned to construct youth housing north of Idlib city, along the Idlib-Maaret Misrin highway. Subscriptions for this project opened in 2005, with 1,485 people signing up. The project was divided into two phases: the first was meant to be completed in 2011, and the second in 2012.

The minister allocated 26 hectares of agricultural land for the project and began pavement and levelling work by removing 2,880 olive trees from the construction site. Then in 2009, the ministry contracted with the Idlib governorate branch of the Military Housing Establishment (MHE) to build 600 housing units for the project’s first phase. However, like other social housing projects, the Idlib project saw setbacks and poor implementation in the lead-up to 2011, and the completion rate was below 20 percent in the first phase. According to official statements, the second phase’s completion rate was just five percent. Meanwhile, there are many discrepancies in the government’s statistics on the number of applicants, the completed housing units and units still under construction before 2011.

Then in 2012, opposition forces seized control of the Idlib governorate. Authority over the area changed hands until the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham formed in 2017, and its SSG governing body took control. From 2012-2017, the youth housing project site sat neglected, and construction work was at a standstill.

The SSG’s Directorate of Housing and Reconstruction, under the Ministry of Local Administration and Services, formed several technical and legal committees and subdivided 192 apartments in the youth housing project for applicants. Real estate subdivision means dividing a property through a technical transaction carried out by the Directorate of Cadastral Affairs and per plans approved by the local administrative unit. These apartments were registered under their owners’ names in the Idlib governorate’s Department of Cadastral Affairs, which granted them title deeds. Notably, these subdivided apartments are still not yet fully constructed. The Syria Report could not independently verify the criteria the Directorate of Housing used to allocate and subdivide these properties or if their owners had finished paying them.

Then in 2019, the SSG housed 180 displaced families from East Ghouta in the youth housing apartments after an NGO, Syria Relief, conducted urgent rehabilitation work on the homes. Syria Relief was founded in the UK in 2011 and implements long-term development and livelihood projects. But nine months later, the SSG notified the East Ghouta families that they needed to vacate the apartments, as youth housing applicants were demanding they receive their rights to the homes. The SSG then moved the East Ghouta families to its housing projects in Jabal Kalli, Mashhad Rouhin and Al-Kamouna north of Idlib city, which had been built for them by various NGOs. However, some live informally in unfinished apartments within the Idlib youth housing project.

Pressure has grown for housing in Idlib due to numerous large waves of forced displacement from the regime-held territory to the governorate. In 2019, the SSG began considering completing the youth housing project but has yet to carry out any new construction work. Instead, the SSG has done only administrative work, such as re-organising transactions by old applicants, to prepare for returning to work on the project, the Director of SSG’s Director of Housing and Reconstruction AbdelMonaem Al-Hout, told The Syria Report.

Al-Hout explained that the youth housing applicants to whom the SSG granted deadlines to confirm their subscriptions are the same applicants who signed up under the General Housing Establishment (GHE) in 2005 and still reside in Idlib. They also have not completed paying their instalments on the housing due post-2011. Since the directorate’s first announcement in June, it has reviewed 583 applicants’ applications.

However, there is an issue with some applicants living outside of SSG-controlled territory, whether in regime areas or outside Syria. As the SSG stipulated in its announcement, they cannot visit in person to confirm their subscription. According to sources from the Directorate of Housing and Reconstruction, old applicants who haven’t confirmed their subscriptions will be considered to have forfeited their subscription rights. However, their rights to their previous payments as recorded in the subscription ledgers and receipts will be preserved. Apartments for which nobody has applied to confirm their subscriptions will be offered up for new applicants to replace the “forfeiters.”

The housing directorate has not specified the value for the new payment instalments owed for the housing. However, sources in the directorate told The Syria Report they would be close to the value of the old instalments. They will also consider the costs and timeline for completing the project. This claim, however, does not appear realistic amid recent currency devaluation, as the subscription fee in 2005 was SYP 70,000, and the monthly instalments were SYP 2,500.

In any case, the Directorate of Housing and Reconstruction has no clear plan to finish work on the youth housing project, though is amending the old engineering plans as they no longer correspond with new urban development and expansion in the city. Once the new plans are approved, then construction tenders will be announced, and the directorate will supervise implementation. According to Hout, the project will receive special funding from the directorate, which the applicants’ payments will finance. This means that, for the time being, work is currently focused only on confirming the rights of applicants and collecting their payments to build a budget for completing the housing project.

Shelter Centres for Earthquake-Impacted Residents in Idlib

07-03-2023/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

Providing shelter for people whose homes were damaged during the February 6 earthquake remains an ongoing challenge for NGOs in Syria.

The Syrian Salvation Government (SSG), affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group that controls most of the Idlib governorate, has taken on the role of coordinator to direct the response to the dozens of shelter centres that have since appeared, most of them set up in chaos.

According to a map by the SSG’s General Directorate of Humanitarian Affairs, 52 temporary shelter centres were set up in Idlib and distributed to NGOs responding to the disaster. These centres now house more than 7,500 families or around 37,500 people. Most of these centres were on publicly owned or endowment properties, such as schoolyards, parks, mosques and playgrounds. Others were old, existing encampments already housing people displaced from other parts of Syria. With the owners’ approval, some temporary shelter centres were also set up on privately owned properties.

According to statistics from the SSG’s Emergency Response Committee, as of March 02, some 10,210 families have been impacted by the earthquake. Not all of them are living in the temporary shelter centres, however. Some stay with relatives, while others erected tents near their destroyed and damaged homes.

Meanwhile, more than 690 Syrians moved from Turkey to the temporary shelter centres in Idlib as of February 26, according to the General Directorate of Humanitarian Affairs. Ankara had allowed Syrians residing in earthquake-damaged parts of Turkey to return temporarily to Syria in what has come to be known as “earthquake vacation”. According to statistics from the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing, around 15,000 Syrians crossed into Idlib on such trips as of March 01.

Of the 52 shelter centres, 23 are in Harem and its surrounding countryside, which suffered massive earthquake damage. In that city alone, 35 buildings fully collapsed, and 360 were cracked, killing around 500 people. The surrounding countryside saw the collapse of a newly-built residential project in the town of Basania, killing 200 people.

Most shelter centres lack essential services such as water, sewage and electricity. Some NGOs have resorted to providing portable bathrooms, installing tanks for drinking and cleaning water, and covering the floors of some centres with gravel. Others set up tents, pour cement floors, and dig waterways to drain sewage water.

NGOs have also given out tents, mattresses, blankets and meals in coordination with the General Directorate of Humanitarian Affairs to ensure aid reaches all the shelter centres. That said, there is a lack of coordination on the ground, with more than one NGO often distributing aid in one centre.

Notably, the price of tents has doubled in Idlib due to the huge demand from individuals and NGOs. For example, a medium-quality locally-made tent went from USD 150 to USD 350 after the earthquake. These tents are usually made locally by metalworkers who fashion the iron poles and cut the canvas and plastic insulation. The increased prices have come alongside worsened quality as workers use poorer quality canvas and plastic and employ lower manufacturing standards to keep up with demand.

The aid response has varied from one area of Idlib governorate to another. Help has still not reached the Al-Maland, Marand, Al-Najia and Badama villages in the countryside west of Jisr Al-Shughour, where residents still urgently need tents. Many of them have been forced to sleep out in the open.

It is unclear what will happen to the residents of Idlib’s temporary shelter centres in the long term and how long they will reside there. No real steps have been taken to set up new housing for them that is organised and serviced by quality infrastructure. There are also still no plans for restoring damaged homes. Many people now living in these shelters fear they will simply become new camps, added to the dozens of existing camps for forcibly displaced people who came to Idlib from elsewhere in Syria.