Contractors who delay or do not meet certain standards in the construction of the nation's bridges will be penalized and have their contracts canceled, according to Minister of Transport, Dr. Jabarah Bin Eid Al-Suraisiry. The minister was speaking Sunday during a tour of the road projects in Madina. There was a lighthearted moment during the tour, when his convoy had to stop and wait for camels to leisurely cross the road. He was also asked about the state of the bridges considering what had happened during the Jeddah and Tabuk floods. “All the bridges were executed by the Ministry of Transport according to world standards and specifications and have not been affected by the rains,” said Al-Suraisiry. He said some projects had been withdrawn from some companies because of the delay in handing over the projects or by not abiding by specifications. “There will be no laxity with the companies whether in executing the projects or if there is any delay.” He said the bridges were inspected and tested constantly. Any negligent party would be taken to task and penalized according to the regulations, he said. Al-Suraisiry said that the ministry's budget this year was SR12 billion, the largest yet. He said it was sufficient to execute the transport and road projects in the Kingdom. Al-Suraisiry said the ministry will build roads of more than 30,000 km. He added that the ministry's projects for the current year include different regions of the Kingdom. The Madina Region has its share of vital projects with a total cost of SR1 billion. There are other projects being executed at a cost of SR2.8 billion. He said these projects were important for Madina to deal with traffic jams. The minister inspected the work in phases one and two of the third ring road in Madina. It will be 15 km in length at a total cost of SR282 million.
