Qatif, Dhu-AlQa'dah 22, 1438, August 14, 2017, SPA -- A group of media men toured the town of Awamiya in the province of Qatif in the eastern region on Sunday. During the tour, they learned about the efforts of the security forces to restore total stability to the town, specifically to the neighborhood of Al-Masoura, which witnessed numerous abuses by terrorists and traffickers of illegal drugs and weapons against the police and workers of the eastern region municipality, who had begun their work in demolishing the houses of the old neighborhood, in preparation for the construction of an ideal neighborhood and modern houses and the addition of other services. Several photographs, taken by SPA's lens, revealed the heavy security deployment of armored vehicles and police vehicles in the city of Awamiya in general and Al-Masoura neighborhood in particular, which created a state of reassurance among the workers of the municipality and prompted them to continue their work in demolishing the remaining houses in the old neighborhood. These workers were subjected to armed attacks by terrorists earlier to force them to stop the project of the municipality to demolish the old houses and narrow alleys, which the terrorists used as hiding places from security men, as well as several losses suffered by vehicles of the municipality; the terrorist attacks have also resulted in the death of a number of security men. The municipality of the region launched a project to develop and reconstruct the neighborhood. The authorities provided alternative housing for the residents of the neighborhood. Al-Masoura neighborhood is home to about 8,000 families, all of whom were evacuated prior to the start of demolitions, and were given sufficient time to evacuate after the completion of the process of valuing their old homes. The municipality has estimated the amount of compensation for the houses of the neighborhood to be more than 800 million riyals. The municipality said that the work of removing the buildings in the neighborhood is continuing, and that the project will begin to develop the neighborhood after the completion of the removal of all the buildings, which number 488 houses. The municipality pointed out that the duration of the development of the neighborhood project is two years, and that all the valuations of the houses in the neighborhood have been completed before the start of the removal work, noting that the compensation amount ranged from 800 to 900 million riyals. Valuation checks were issued to all homeowners prior to commencement of the removal work. --SPA 00:51 LOCAL TIME 21:51 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w465565