Abid Khazandar Al-Riyadh Here is a rundown of what is happening with our government projects. Most of the projects being executed by the government are faltering. According to Al-Hayat on Oct. 31, chairman of the World Chambers Federation Khalaf Al-Otaibi estimated the value of faltering government projects in the Kingdom to be about a trillion riyals. He said the responsibility for the delays lies with three parties: the project owner (government), the contractor and the engineering consultancy office. In other words, all are responsible. This means it is impossible to find a solution. On the other hand, Dr. Tawfiq Bin Abdulaziz Al-Swailem, director of Dar Al-Khaleej Research and Economic Consultancy, told Al-Riyadh newspaper on Oct. 29 that Saudi contractors were facing numerous administrative, technical and financial difficulties in the execution of the government projects. He said going for the cheapest offer in the tender process would often lead to projects being offered to weak contractors. Others would claim that a lack of qualified manpower and the inability of contractors to obtain visas to recruit foreign manpower were the main cause behind the delays. If we want to understand all the reasons for the faltering of government projects, the list will be too long. But what is the solution, especially as some of these vital projects include hospitals, schools and others? According to a local newspaper, a royal decree has called for the establishment of a ministerial committee to study the causes of the delay in executing government projects and come up with concrete solutions. I hope that this committee will put an end to the unnecessary delays in the implementation of government projects.
