Saudi experts say more powers needed to investigate contractors

Saudi economic and legal experts have called for authorities to have greater powers to investigate companies that fail to implement government projects properly, Al Watan daily reported.

They said investigations by Saudi’s Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP) or Control and Investigation Board (CIB) would prevent squandering of public money and catastrophes such as floods and bridge collapses cause by poor workmanship.

Khalid Al Shahrani, a lawyer and legal consultant, said several infrastructure projects had failed to prevent floods and other catastrophes because they were not implemented properly.

“There was no single body to monitor the performance of these companies and impose deterring penalties on any form of negligence and corruption,” he was quoted as saying.

“The government awards its infrastructure project contracts to prestigious companies. However, most of these companies might take on subcontractors in the work and assign part of the job to them for the sake of making more profits.

“These companies should have hired highly-efficient subcontractors to perform the required tasks and deliver excellent services.”

Al Shahrani said usually engineering consultation offices were assigned by a governmental agency to monitor the performance of companies and subcontractors.

“Regrettably, these offices do not accomplish their tasks well and never keep a close eye on the progress or quality of a project,” he said. “The contractors know for sure that their actions will go unpunished.”

The BIP or CIB should track down the parties responsible for damage and corruption, Al Shahrani said, adding that any company owner or subcontractor found guilty of squandering public money should be imprisoned and fined.

Omar Al Khouli, a law professor at King Abdulaziz University, told the newspaper that subcontractors had implemented most contracts over the past two or three decades and they were still in charge of numerous projects.

“It’s difficult today, as it was then, to follow up the progress and quality of projects implemented,” he said.

Fadhel Abu Al Enain, an economic analyst, told the newspaper that heavy rains in some regions over the past few weeks had demonstrated the weak quality of major infrastructure projects.