The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture is taking steady steps towards regulating groundwater sources and developing the agricultural sector in the Kingdom, in line with the strategic goals of the 'Saudi Green' vision.

Amid these regulatory efforts, a large segment of farmers in the Eastern Province needs more flexibility and procedural facilitation as the deadline for disclosing unlicensed wells approaches on the fifth of the current month of Safar.

Support for State Plans

Farmers unanimously support the state's regulatory plans aimed at preserving and sustaining natural resources, but they hope the ministry will respond to their demands to extend the deadline, due to a combination of procedural, technical, and field factors that require additional time to fully complete the regulatory requirements.

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Time and Weekend Challenges

The challenges begin with the limited time available for farmers to rectify their status. After attending an awareness workshop on well licenses, farmers Mahdi Muwais, Ahmed Shihab, and Mohammed Al-Sulaiman explained that the remaining time effectively amounts to only one working day, Sunday the fifth of Safar.

The farmers stated that the announcement of the approaching deadline on Thursday coincided with the start of the weekend, which slowed down the workflow. This coincidence made it extremely difficult for surveying offices to cover all farms, especially those in geographically remote areas such as Abu Ma'an and Tufaih, which require more time to reach and complete accurate surveys. In this regard, farmers Hassan Salis and Bassam Al-Musallam called on the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture to grant farmers an additional grace period of at least 15 to 20 days. They stressed that this extension would ensure everyone discloses in a systematic and accurate manner without rushing, taking into account the daily field burdens faced by farmers.

Financial Aspect and Communication Channels

The financial aspect is a concern for some farmers due to penalties for delays. Farmer Dalia Habib expressed her fears about fines reaching up to 30,000 riyals, pointing to the need to enhance proactive agricultural awareness workshops to avoid the knowledge gap in the disclosure mechanism. She added, 'I own a piece of agricultural land in the name of my deceased father, and the remaining time to avoid the penalty is very short. We hope for an extension of the deadline and more guidance courses for farmers to avoid any penalties.'

Regarding communication mechanisms, farmer Zaki Al-Marhoon highlighted the importance of developing channels to notify farmers of decisions, explaining that he learned about the deadline and the meeting by chance through a social media group. He called for adopting direct text messages like electricity and water bills to ensure everyone receives notifications and to hold negligent parties accountable, especially since the ministry has farmers' contact data.

Technical Capabilities and Field Reality

The farmers discussed the disparity in technical capabilities as a factor affecting the speed of completing procedures. Farmer Mohammed Al-Saba raised this key point, noting that many elderly people cannot handle computers and electronic platforms. He added, 'Even young people sometimes encounter obscure points on the electronic platform. We suggest allocating a support office in branches to manually help farmers complete procedures like surveying, so we can all contribute to achieving the Kingdom's green vision without burdening the farmer.'

Additional Grace Period

Farmer Ibrahim Al-Khawahir supported this proposal, pointing out that elderly people spend their days on their farms away from digital updates, requiring an additional grace period of one to two months to properly rectify their status. On the field level, farmer Haider Al-Qassab reviewed the difficulties facing owners of 'agricultural plots' in obtaining an independent agricultural register for each plot, and the associated services such as electricity.

Meanwhile, farmer Hassan Al-Hilal described some requirements as difficult in practice, explaining that he was asked for a photo and catalog of the submersible water pump, noting that the pump has been buried underground for many years and that the seller informed him that catalogs for these devices are not available, questioning how to obtain this data in just a few days.

Ministry Clarifies and Simplifies Procedures

The ministry responded to these observations during the awareness workshop. Engineer Khaled Al-Fakhr explained that the ministry was keen to facilitate and simplify the application requirements through the electronic platform, stressing that attaching required documents goes through flexible and straightforward steps. Al-Fakhr stated that the basic requirements include the property deed to prove land ownership, and the survey extract exclusively from an approved consulting office. The requirements also include attaching the well drilling license or the disclosure form, a clear photo of the pump with its catalog to determine its productivity, and precisely specifying the purpose of water use.

The Developed Agricultural Register

Engineer Al-Fakhr acknowledged some observations regarding the 'Developed Agricultural Register' system, stressing that the ministry is working diligently to speed up procedures and remove obstacles for farmers. Al-Fakhr concluded by expressing hope that communication efforts with the ministry will lead to an extension of the regulatory deadline to meet farmers' wishes, while urging everyone to take the initiative and start registration procedures immediately without delay to ensure the continuity of their agricultural activities in a regular manner.