BEIRUT: Syria’s government has allocated 1 billion Syrian pounds (around $13 million) this year to pay compensation to people whose properties have been damaged by the armed uprising in the country.

State-run news agency SANA said Sunday that the compensation process would require people to present their claims to committees in the various governorates, where they would be verified before payments are made.

Omar Ghalawanji, the deputy prime minister for services and minister of local government, said SP 500 million would come from his ministry’s budget and the other half from the general state budget. An extra SP 30 billion would be available at the beginning of next year.

The payments will cover part of the cost of damage to uninsured private property, SANA said.

For damage ranging between SP 30,000 and SP 250,000, people will receive compensation worth 40 percent of the amount. For amounts above SP 1.5 million, the requests will be forwarded to the prime minister’s office for review, and compensation covering 50 percent of the damage.