Royal Commission for Riyadh City denies claims of unpaid bills for metro project

RIYADH — The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) has issued a “categorical denial over claims of unpaid bills made in a report carried by Bloomberg, a US-based international news agency, recently.

Early this week, Bloomberg in the report titled “Saudi Arabia’s Unpaid Tab With Metro Builders Runs Into Billions,” citing five anonymous sources, claimed that the Saudi government owes billions of dollars in unpaid bills to US-based Bechtel Corp. and other international firms for their works on the Riyadh Transit Network project

The Bloomberg report also claimed Bechtel is owed around $1 billion, citing four sources.

“We wish to state at the outset that we categorically deny any claims that contractors have not been paid,” RCRC said in a statement on Thursday.

“We wish to give the present reply with the sole intention of clarifying any doubts leveled against the RTNP and also would want to reiterate that all claims filed go through a dispute resolution process in order for all disputes to be to be resolved professionally and amicably,” the statement added.

In the statement, RCRC said it has ensured that payments to contractors were made in a timely manner, following the submission of their contractual payment certificates without delay.

“The Covid-19 pandemic affected the construction of mega projects, such as supply chain interruptions. However, despite the outbreak, we have ensured the project’s continuity, as we adapted business behavior and construction processes,” the statement read.

“Moreover, support has been given to the consortium of contractors during the period of the pandemic, and discussions are currently underway to evaluate this level of support, in a fair and financially-responsible manner,” RCRC added in the statement.