Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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states, Abdul-Aziz mustered his military capabilities from townspeople and loyal bedouins,
defeated the disobedient bedouin chiefs and ordered the demolition of their settlements.
Only those who showed allegiance to the King were issued weapons and their leaders were
awarded subsidies.
The process of settling pastoral herdsmen in hijar colonies continued apace during the
following reigns of the Saudi monarchs. The government followed the same vision which
perceived the pastoral life as anachronistic and the population as useless for the new era of
modernization which called for an active, educated labor force. By 1982 the number of
hijar settlements reached 4,020, dotting the various parts of the country. 20
Nevertheless, the hijar experiment was less than successful. A study by the Ministry
of Interior in 1982 concluded that 68 percent of the established hijar did not qualify for
permanent development. The failure was attributed to several factors. They included
physical obstacles, such as the lack of water, arable land and distance from markets and
transportation. Social factors such as the status and prestige associated with being a head
of a clan or rivalry between bedouin tribal chiefs enticed groups to apply for land for new
settlement despite the unqualified nature of the location for growth or growth potentiality.
Financial benefits provided by the government to the head of a settlement enticed some
potential elders to apply for a land grant from the state to establish a new hijrah. Finally,
technical reasons were also cited. Responsibility for the sedentariztion program was
dispersed among various government agencies who made decisions without coordination
and rational justification. 21
In Saudi Arabia, there are 10,365 "villages and hijar," as classified by a study by the
Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affair (MOMRA) 22 The Ministry of Interior puts the
number of hijar at 4,020 which leaves us with 6,345 villages in the Kingdom. A study by
the MOMRA found that the average number of people living in "villages and hijar"
settlements was 251 inhabitants occupying an average of 40 residential units. In addition,
there are 4,636 names that refer to a small number of residential units and built structures
scattered in the vicinity or out of the boundaries of actively inhabited settlements which did
not qualify for the definition of village or hijrah. In many instances, especially in the case
of hijar, residential units were haphazardly scattered in the desert with no reference to a
plan, resembling bedouin's tent camps. This resulted in difficulties stemming from future
needs to supply basic public services and utilities and the laying of streets. In order to curb