Arbitration committee to look into stalled projects in Riyadh
Independent body to be formed in Riyadh to prevent further delays in projects
Saudi construction authorities in Riyadh have formed an independent arbitration body to follow up on stalled projects in order to prevent delays by contractors, it was reported.
Many government projects awarded to contractors have been delayed or stalled due to several reasons, authorities said.
“To ensure success and prevent further delays in its projects, the Commission has formed an arbitration committee from outside the Commission to follow up all its projects and report on each of them regularly,” said Muzahim Al Deeb, director of roads and services in the Commission, quoted in the Arabic daily Al Watan.
Projects in Riyadh and other parts of Saudi Arabia have been stalled due to reasons such as inefficient management, inadequate resources and technical specifications of some contractors, heavy reliance on subcontractors, and poor studies of projects, Deeb said at a contractors’ seminar in Riyadh.
Other reasons include slow resolution of problems facing projects and a lack of coordination between concerned parties, Emirates 24|7 reported.
Fahd Al Hammadi, chairman of the national contractors committee, said at the seminar that almost 40% of government projects have faced delays and a majority of them have been withdrawn from the contractors.
Hammadi said the contractors in the country are pushing ahead with plans to “put their house in order” through the creation of an autonomous authority to handle the sector.
“The Saudi contractors aim to create an authority to look after this vital sector and increase its efficiency so it will be capable of shouldering its responsibilities in executing projects on time and with great efficiency. We will soon sign an agreement among all contracting companies to create this autonomous authority before we have it presented to the Monarch,” he said.
