With an area of 2 km.. Citizens complain about attempts to seize their lands by force under the pretext of establishing a public park in Al-Mokha, west of Taiz

Citizens complained about attempts by forces affiliated with Presidential Leadership Council member Tariq Saleh to seize their lands under the pretext of establishing a public park in the coastal city of Mokha, located west of Taiz Governorate, southwest of Yemen.

Citizens told "Yemeni Youth Net" that the site chosen to establish the Mokha Park is free land owned by citizens from Mokha for many years. They are the original owners and have documents confirming their ownership of the land, which is estimated to be about 2 square kilometers in area.

On May 22, Taiz Governor Nabil Shamsan laid the foundation stone for a project to establish a public park in Mokha, funded by the so-called National Resistance led by Presidential Leadership Council member Tariq Saleh.

Shamsan said at the time, "Laying the foundation stone came after completing all legal procedures and officially approving the area for establishing the park, after years of the project being halted, which faced several obstacles in construction and establishment."

However, the owners who spoke to “Yemeni Youth Net” confirmed that they had met with Tariq Saleh two years ago after their lands were chosen to establish the park and they submitted grievances. He in turn understood the matter at the time and directed the formation of a committee headed by Judge Khalil Al-Taj, President of the Mokha Primary Court, to receive grievances from landowners and verify ownership documents so that they could be compensated according to the law. However, this did not happen due to procrastination and marginalization of the committee.

One of the sources hinted at the involvement of the governor of Taiz in obstructing the work of the compensation committee and marginalizing it through the intervention of the director of the branch of the Land Authority office in Mokha, Marwan Al-Ra’adi, who is related to Nabil Shamsan, noting that attempts are now being made to seize lands by force and coercion, under the pretext that they are state property.

"Yemeni Youth Net" obtained copies of notices in the name of the Public Works and Roads Office in Mokha, which were sent on October 8 to shop owners, demanding that they "remove the building from the grounds within a week, otherwise legal action will be taken." It should be noted that these notices do not bear the seal of the Public Works Office, and do not bear the names and titles of the people who signed them.

An informed source said that the Public Works Office equipment recently began implementing the removal operations with the military force of the National Resistance, and any owner who objects is arrested and thrown into prison, indicating that the landowners have reached the point of fear of demanding their rights.

He pointed out that some owners resorted to the judiciary by filing a lawsuit, while others remained silent under the influence of threats and intimidation they received from the forces of the member of the Presidential Leadership Council.

"Yemeni Youth Net" learned from a special source that the court held several sessions to consider the case, the last of which was last Sunday, where a representative of the Public Works Office in the Mokha District attended and tried to deny and evade responsibility and that they had nothing to do with the removal operations, indicating that the local authority in the district was contacted, which also did not clarify to the judiciary which party is carrying out the removal operations.

Another informed source said that the insistence of the Public Works Office and those behind it who are influential in the National Resistance to implement the removal and forcible seizure of lands in the area, even though it is not suitable to be a park because it is a triangle located between three main streets, has an economic goal, suggesting that some parties are coveting the lands and seeking to establish commercial centers under the cover of establishing a park.