Daraa Authorities Move to Acquire Land for 18 March Border Crossing
The General Authority for Borders and Customs, in coordination with the Daraa regional administration, recently held an extensive meeting with property owners to finalize the executive procedures and legal mechanisms required to acquire land for the construction of the 18 March border crossing project.
According to an official announcement released by the Daraa Governorate via its Telegram channel, the project involves the acquisition of 10 properties owned by 83 individuals. The total area designated for the project is approximately 2,299,421 square meters, equivalent to about 230 dunums. The established purchase price has been set at $5,000 USD per dunum.
During the meeting, Tammam Sawaghi, Assistant Director of the General Authority for Borders and Customs for Border Affairs, emphasized that the Authority is working to accelerate the pace of the acquisition process and resolve any obstacles. He noted that purchase contracts are currently being drafted in parallel with the completion of the necessary legal and administrative requirements to ensure the transactions are finalized in accordance with established regulations.
Sawaghi urged the property owners to initiate the legal process of inheritance documentation and to prepare all required official paperwork. He also highlighted the necessity for owners residing outside of Syria to organize legal power of attorney documents to facilitate the process and prevent any delays in the finalization of the purchase agreements.
For his part, the Director of the Daraa region, Mohammed Abu Dabbous, explained that this meeting represents the culmination of a series of discussions held over the past two months between the regional administration and the property owners to reach a consensus.
Abu Dabbous stressed that the acquisition process is being conducted on behalf of the General Authority for Borders and Customs outside the framework of traditional expropriation laws. Instead, the process relies on purchasing the properties directly from the owners through specific, agreed-upon legal contracts.
The initiative to establish the 18 March crossing follows an agreement reached last July between the head of the General Authority for Borders and Customs, Qutaiba Badawi, and the Governor of Daraa, Anwar Taha Al-Zoubi. The name “18 March” was chosen to commemorate the anniversary of the start of the Syrian revolution. The project aims to reactivate the old Daraa customs facility and strengthen the infrastructure of border crossings in the region.
Source: Syria Focus Arabic
