SANA’A—The government committee assigned to determine the cost of repairs to homes and buildings damaged during Yemen’s 2011 popular uprising announced the total cost of repairs to be YR3 billion, or $17.7 million. The committee also put forth a plan to distribute the money to homeowners, who have been waiting on the compensation for two years.
“We will finish reviewing the [list] of victims’ this week and compensation will start within a month,” said engineer Waleed Rase, director of the Public Projects in Sana’a and head of the committee. He said the figures went through a number of channels including the Capital Secretariat, the Ministry of Public Works and Highways and the Supreme Ministerial Committee, which endorsed the suggested compensation.
The compensation will be distributed through the Post Office. Those receiving YR5 million (about $23,000) or less will receive the entire amount in one payment. Those receiving more than YR5 million in compensation will collect the money in two phases.
Those affected by the uprising are required to bring their identity cards or home ownership titles with them to the Post Office to collect compensation, Rase said.
Only structural damage to homes was taken into consideration when calculating each house’s damage. Furniture was not included in the estimation, per a decree put forth by the prime minister in 2011.
As many as 3,380 houses were damaged during the events of 2011, 33 percent of damaged property is located in Hassaba, the residential neighborhood of the Al-Ahmar family. The area was the epicenter of clashes between former President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s forces and tribesmen associated with Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hussein Al-Ahmar, who defected from the regime.
Hassaba is home to several ministries, state prime facilities and many officials.
Many Hassaba residents, including Ali Abu Oraig, are skeptical of the compensation pledge.
“We had to leave our home and head to our village in Arhab for a year. We spent YR500,000 to repair half of the damages [our home sustained],” Oraig said. “The ministerial committee pledged to compensate us, but we don’t believe them.”
Shattered windows, looted stores and destroyed homes can still be found all around the Al-Hassaba area.
Al-Hassaba resident Ali Abdulla Abas told the Yemen Times that his three buildings were seriously damaged during the uprising. Abas says his damages amount to YR100 million, about $500,000, but the committee only estimated his damages to be YR30 million.
“I usually rent these buildings for about YR2 million per month total, but demanded has fallen, no one wanted to lease the buildings once the uprising began two years ago. The government keeps making unfulfilled promises,” Abas said.
Abdulsalam Al-Surihi, another resident in Al-Hassaba, said he sustained over YR20 million in damages and has had to rent in the Bab Al-Yemen area for YR50,000 a month since 2011.
“I used to lease out four apartments and shopping centers in my building for YR200,000 total per month and they we were all looted by armed men during the [chaos],” Al-Surihi said.
Photo: Two men walk through a house they abandoned in 2011 following battles in the Hasaba area. Source: Yemen Times
