It is the property that carries the number 1587 in the Wastani district of the city of Saida, and for a quarter of a century successive municipal councils have not been able to implement any environmental project that would provide Saida with a useful green space.
Is it a cursed property that no investment attempts can succeed with, or is it the mismanagement of municipal councils that prevented the city of Saida from benefiting from it?
The letter sent by the head of Saida’s municipal council, Dr. Hazem Bdeih, and members of the municipal council to the Mohammad Zaidan Development Association on December 5, 2023—replying to the association’s request for approval to establish, maintain, and manage a public garden for ten years at no cost on property no. 1587 in Wastani, which is public municipal land—sparked mixed reactions. However, most of Saida’s community forces expressed astonishment at the contents of the letter, which asked the Zaidan Association to transfer the funds allocated for the project, or part of them, to the municipality to contribute to solving the problem of waste collection and transport, stating that “the proposed public garden project would be discussed after finding a sustainable solution to the current waste problem.”
On December 13, 2023, the patron of the Mohammad Zaidan Development Association, Mohammad Hassan Zaidan, replied to the letter of Mayor Bdeih with another letter, the most prominent point of which was that Zaidan was shocked by the municipal council’s response to the initiative. He wondered: “The response did not show whether the municipality’s stance was the result of a formal meeting decision, or merely side meetings—which reflects disregard for a pioneering initiative.”
In his reply to the municipality, Zaidan pointed out: “The proposal submitted by the association on November 9, 2023, to establish a public garden was made at the request of the current mayor himself, who asked the association to present a new written proposal to the municipality. Therefore, the expected response should have been either accepting the proposal or requesting to discuss its details.”
He considered that the municipality’s request for support to address the waste crisis, while linking the public garden project to finding a sustainable solution for waste management, amounted to canceling the project.
One municipal council member denied that the letter sent by the mayor had been approved by the municipal council, saying that what happened was merely consultations between council members and that it was agreed to discuss the matter with the Zaidan Association, not to send an official letter regarding the garden.
Engineer Mohammad Dandashli, a member of the “Raise Your Voice” gathering, commented: “We see that the municipal council, with this stance, is evading the responsibility it carries and its failure to present a vision for the use of this property. Especially since the council’s stance raises questions about its real position regarding the property—how can it refuse an environmental project of such importance, offered as a grant of this scale, without imposing any financial burden on the municipal treasury!”
“Would it not have been better for the council to invite the Zaidan Association and other potential donors, if any, to a public discussion on how to benefit from the property by turning it into a public garden and on the opportunities to provide public services to citizens?”
Regarding the “Raise Your Voice” gathering’s vision for a solution, he added: “We demand that the municipal council hold a public session to discuss property 1587 and how to use it, instead of escaping into the unknown under the pretext of priorities—when, in reality, all of citizens’ needs have already become daily priorities in their lives.”
What is the chronic problem of this property, which is owned by the Municipality of Saida?
The property has an area of 22,434 m², and it is a newly created property by virtue of the land consolidation and subdivision decree in the Wastani cadastral area.
Municipal council member Mustafa Hijazi said: “Recently, we signed an agreement with the organization MEDCITIES to create green spaces in the city as part of its project to establish such spaces in three cities in the Arab region: Saida, Jerash, and Bethlehem. A consultant was appointed in each city, and more than one party submitted an environmental project to preserve the green spaces.”
“A first project was chosen to establish a garden on an area of 3,200 m² of the property, a second project to plant the street medians in Saida, and a third project on hydroponic farming.”
But this information was not reaching the municipal council on time. On this matter, Hijazi explained: “The issue of not informing the municipal council of what was happening was because we were waiting to see the outcome of following up on the matter before the council could take the appropriate decision.”
This clarification came because a number of activists requested information and decisions from the municipal council regarding the subject, and the reply of Mayor Dr. Bdeih was: “We have no knowledge.” This prompted the “Raise Your Voice” gathering to issue a statement on November 8, 2023, inquiring about this project and how it would be implemented.
This property has witnessed disputes of a local political nature, which contributed to preventing successive municipal councils from taking proper steps to benefit from investing in the land of this property.
The Mohammad Zaidan Development Association submitted a request to the municipal council on November 9, 2023, expressing its intention to rehabilitate the entire area as a public park, managing and maintaining it for ten years without imposing any cost on the municipality. This proposal embarrassed the municipal council and pushed it to hold a consultative session, which led to the issuance of the aforementioned letter. The municipal council is also in contact with MEDCITIES to apologize for the inability to implement the park project and to request that its financial support be redirected to the second project concerning the planting of medians in the city.
In a meeting held at the municipality on Thursday, December 7, 2023, a municipal council member asked representatives of associations and civil groups to submit proposals regarding the property’s land, and expressed the council’s readiness to discuss these proposals in a public session.
One activist commented on the issue: “It would have been better if the municipality had opened the door for a public discussion about this property before entering into agreements here and there and then withdrawing from them. What matters to us is that the municipality be able to implement a project to establish a public park open to all, and to benefit from it to cover the financial deficit the municipality is experiencing—bearing in mind that the municipality’s track record in this field is not encouraging, as shown by the examples of the Al-Saudi and Sheikh Bin Zayed gardens.”
An observer of the municipality’s work pointed out to the municipal council the necessity of resolving the legal status of the property and canceling all previous municipal decisions related to agreements with private institutions before taking any step in this regard. For this property has witnessed disputes of a local political nature, which contributed to preventing successive municipal councils from taking proper steps to benefit from investing in the land of this property.
