The largest construction project in the world, the futuristic city of Neom, in Saudi Arabia, seems to be turning into a fiasco with several worker deaths.
Saudi Arabia is thinking big, very big. As part of its program called “Saudi Vision 2030”, aimed at diversifying the country's economy beyond oil exploitation, the Saudi kingdom has undertaken immense projects including the construction of the city of Neom.
Neom has the ambition to become the city of the future which will include scientific and seaside resorts, between luxury hotels, innovative and eco-responsible means of transport. It will notably include a city called The Line, supposed to be two skyscrapers 170 km long.
However, the Dantesque project is far from happening in the best conditions, quite the contrary. The delays are accumulating so much that the 170 km long should ultimately measure only 2.4 km in 2030. In addition, with its mirror structure, The Line could cause the death of millions of birds.
Photo credit: Neom
Beyond these construction delays, it is above all the working conditions of the workers, most of them migrants, which are at the heart of the controversy. The Wall Street Journal has collected numerous testimonies. The presence of tens of thousands of workers has led to overcrowding in camps in the desert.
These camps would not have been built to standards and medical reports from worker camp clinics, consulted by the Wall Street Journal, report cases of rape, attempted murders and suicides among the worker population. For example, a worker cut his wrists while complaining about not being paid.
Photo credit: Neom
A “Wild West” in the middle of the Saudi desert
A violent demonstration also took place in the spring of 2023 to protest against the food offered in the workers' camps. In addition, road safety has become a real challenge with construction trucks, overloaded pick-ups and white-collar cars crossing paths on makeshift roads.
In November 2024, Neom reported five fatal workplace and road accidents in one week, according to former and current employees, describing the place as a veritable “Wild West.” What's more, testimonies have reported the presence of child workers, including an 8-year-old child seen driving a tanker truck that hit a van carrying two workers.
Photo credit: Neom
Independent reports commissioned by Neom in 2022 highlight the absence of a global emergency plan and the lack of resources to cope with the scale of the project. Although improvements (road safety campaigns, on-site hospital, clinics and helicopters for emergencies) have been undertaken, serious incidents continue.
Unfortunately, despite all these problems, Saudi Arabia, through its crown prince Mohamed Ben Salmane, does not intend to give up on its pharaonic project. As a reminder, the country will host the 2029 Asian Winter Games and the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
