Three Million Square Meters of Land Allocated in Kish Have Been 'Reclaimed'

The CEO of the Kish Free Zone announced the reclamation of three million square meters of land that had been allocated 'without regulation' in the region, stating that the difference in value of these lands at the time of allocation and their current price is 3,300 billion tomans. Ali-Asghar Monsan emphasized in an interview with the 'Shargh' newspaper on Tuesday, August 12, that during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, approximately 'two-thirds' of this land, or two million square meters, was allocated to a private company. According to Mr. Monsan, the Kish Free Zone allocates land to investors based on contracts, and they must implement production or tourism projects on these lands; if no project is executed, the land must be returned to the free zone according to the contract. He announced that three million square meters of land received by individuals from the Kish Free Zone, on which no projects were executed, have been reclaimed by court order. Mr. Monsan stated that the total price of these lands at the time of allocation was approximately 527 billion tomans, while their current total price is about 3,800 billion tomans. He mentioned that despite the illegality of selling land received from the free zone, some recipients sold these lands through proxies. Mr. Monsan stressed that due to the sale of land through proxies, the Kish Free Zone 'is not aware' that these lands have been sold. Last year, the issue of a '13 trillion toman violation' in the sale of lands in the Qeshm Free Zone, including the old airport of this free zone, was raised, leading to the arrest of several managers, including Reza Mousavi and Esfandiar Heydari-Pour, two former CEOs of this zone. Meanwhile, Akbar Turkan, Secretary of the Supreme Council of Free Zones, reported on September 1, 2015, that 154 land allocation contracts for construction projects in the Kish Free Zone, on which 'no action' had been taken, were canceled in the past two years. According to Mr. Turkan, these land allocation contracts 'had no real substance.' Hassan Norouzi, a representative from Robat Karim in the parliament, stated last June that during the previous government, 'lands were sold at 4-5 million tomans per square meter, which were worth 40,000 tomans per square meter.' Meanwhile, the CEO of the Kish Free Zone described the amount of land allocated during the previous government as 'considerable' and noted that in just one case, two million square meters of land were allocated to a private company. According to Mr. Monsan, if this one case is considered, two-thirds of all lands returned to the Kish Free Zone Organization were allocated during the previous government. The CEO did not mention the name of the company that received the land or the details of the project that was supposed to be implemented. In response to a question about the existence of rent-seeking in the allocation of these lands, he stated, 'We have not investigated whether the allocations were rent-seeking or not.' The CEO of the Kish Free Zone also announced that the regulations for land allocation to investors in the new government have become 'stricter,' and factors such as financial turnover and the assets of investors applying for land are being reviewed. Hamid Baqai, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's executive assistant and head of the Free Zones Organization, was also arrested last June on charges of 'embezzlement' and was released in January. In this context, 'Sea Erosion in a Safe Shore'; drying up the sea to build a hotel in Kish. A member of parliament: 17 corruption cases in the ninth parliament have gone missing.