MAKKAH, 17 May 2006 — A new neighborhood is popping up near an older one, and as foreign residents flock there so are shady real estate brokers seeking to sell land that doesn’t belong to them.
The new area is located in the west of Bathaa Quraish land zone. Using a Burmese guide, Arab News was able to talk to a man who claimed to be part of a group of businessmen who was selling residential plots. He was unable to provide proof of ownership.
The man said demand for the land has grown as residents move out of nearby Al-Nakkasa, an overcrowded slum outside of Makkah. The man said a plot of land that was recently on sale for SR1,000 has quickly grown in value five-fold.
The new neighborhood is showing signs that little has changed in terms of zoning and regulations. Tangled clots of illegal electrical lines cluster on poles where residents are stealing power from the main lines. Many residents forego electricity altogether. The sound of the occasional power generator grumbles among the recently-erected wooden shacks.
Some enterprising Saudis have also gotten into the land grab, erecting walled tenement buildings to rent out to migrants, documented or otherwise.
As for water, a resident Arab News interviewed said that the people that live on this hill collect money to bring a water truck. Water is cheaper in this new neighborhood than it is in Al-Nakkasa by as much as half.
Residents have managed to raise SR25,000 to pave a road. As for police, just as it is in Al-Nakkasa, they are rarely seen.
A Foreign World
We understood quickly why police don’t come here.
Without a local guide one can easily become lost in the Al-Nakkasa neighborhood among the narrow alleyways where residents peer suspiciously at strangers from doorways.
Indeed, a newcomer to this ‘hood in the holy city of Makkah has many eyes watching him. Most of the residents are Burmese, but there is also a strong presence of Africans, Bangladeshis and Indonesians. Saudis, on the other hand, were noticeably absent.
Arab News visited Al-Nakkasa neighborhood with the help of the Burmese guide recently to get a feel for the seemingly foreboding area. When stopped and asked the reason for the visit by a group of teens, we said we were doing an investigative walk-through to observe the state of public sanitation in order to expose the health problem — for the benefit of the people living here. After learning of our motives, the teens quickly became disinterested and wandered off.
We continued on, climbing stairs and traversing the narrow alleyways. Everywhere we went people seemed to avoid us. The guide said that the residents have learned not to trust strangers, especially Saudis. The guide, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that Al-Nakkasa is a haven for undocumented migrants, Muslim overstayers of visas issued for the Haj and Umrah pilgrimages.
“Everything one needs is available here — food, clothing, etc,” said the Burmese guide. “There’s no need to go outside. Police rarely enter. When they do, it’s easy to hide from them. Police only raid the edges of Al-Nakkasa.”
The more we went deeper into Al-Nakkasa, the more it felt like a foreign country. Naked children played in the street and peddlers filled the already claustrophobia-inducing alleyways.
The level of sanitation dropped, too, and the smell of raw sewage became intense.
To our surprise, there were health clinics (unlicensed, of course), schools and private shops that only served certain nationalities.
Strangers are not welcome to study or to receive health care from these facilities. Schools are hidden deep inside the Al-Nakkasa labyrinth.
Social ties are strong here among the Burmese. As soon as one settles here, says the guide, he is immediately plugged into a social network, which includes the health care facilities and schools. Before saying goodbye, the guide made a point to say that the residents of Al-Nakkasa want little more than to be left alone.
