510 school projects worth $799.7mln at a standstill in Saudi Arabia

MAKKAH — About 510 school construction projects with a budget of over SR3 billion are at a standstill due to disputes between the Ministry of Education and the contractors, Al-Madina newspaper reported on Saturday.

Education Affairs Directorates are forced to find alternative solutions to accommodate the rising number of students. These options include merger of schools together with holding classes in two shifts in the morning and evening and renting buildings as a temporary yet costly solution.

Some of the construction projects were only 20 percent completed when their contract periods are nearing an end.

Hamdan Al-Jihani, a supervisor at Makkah Education Affairs Directorate, said merging of schools and condensing the students into one building is not a viable solution to accommodate the growing number of students.

“This solution is rather hazardous as teachers find it difficult to control large classrooms. In addition, the recess venues are now incredibly crowded. A crowded classroom makes it harder for students to concentrate, resulting in a less efficient teaching process. The directorate is currently moving the students placed in rented buildings to schools that are owned by the government to reduce costs. But there is a dire need for more school buildings in order to maintain the quality of education,” said Hamdan.

Businessman and a former member of the Contractors Committee of the Makkah Chamber of Commerce Saud Al-Sadi said internal contractors are the root cause of the delay in completing the ministry’s projects.

“Internal contractors are a liaison between the ministry’s administration and the contractors. They have all of the contract conditions in their hands but no control over the cash flow. Contractors often have a hard time finding skillful people to employ and I call for the Ministry of Labor to facilitate conditions for work permits in the construction sector as the market is in dire need of skilled and experienced workers,” said Al-Sadi.

According to Nabeel Abbas, a member at the Saudi Council of Engineers and the representative of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf,

the flaw is in the infrastructure of the construction sector.

“There needs to be qualified and trained consultants, contractors, owners, lawyers, accountants and workers in order to have an efficiently-functioning assembly line of production. Such flaws are costly to the country. Government projects have so far been entrusting the contractor with inflation probabilities, natural disasters and extra tasks that are to be met outside the contract. That is the reason for the failure of all these construction projects. Contractors lack the resources and expertise to execute the large projects proposed by the government,” said Abbas.

He said the government should follow international standards such as FIDIC standards when it comes to contracting a construction project. It will increase the efficiency of the work and contractors will feel secure about their rights, he added.

Disputes between ministry, contractors blamed.