The government of Saudi Arabia has removed the CEO of the NEOM project, Nadmi Al-Nasser. NEOM is a project to build a new city in a desolate desert. However, no reason has been given for Nadmi's resignation.
Nadmi was on this post since 2018. He has now been replaced by Ayman Al-Mudaifar as Acting CEO.
According to media reports, doubts about NEOM's success began to grow. The government is frustrated with the project not being completed on time and the cost escalating. Fears are also being expressed on social media that this project will not be successful as claimed.
NEOM is the dream project of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi is spending 40 lakh crore rupees on this. The project is part of Saudi Vision 2030. Through this, Saudi Arabia wants to reduce its dependence on oil.
British channel ITV has claimed that more than 21 thousand migrants have died in the last 8 years while building NEOM project's 'The Line' city. Most of the migrant laborers are from India, Pakistan and Nepal.
This photo is taken from NEOM's promotional video. It was released in April 2024.
With over 1 lakh people missing, the Saudi government dismissed the allegations as baseless According to the report, more than 8 people are dying every day while working on this project. Those killed include 14,000 laborers from India, 5,000 laborers from Bangladesh and 2,000 laborers from Nepal. Not only this, more than one lakh people have also gone missing while working on this project.
It is stated in this documentary that about 1.5 lakh people are working on this project. These migrant laborers are being forced to work 16 hours a day. They are being kept in very bad conditions. Due to which they get sick and die.
According to the documentary, a Nepali worker named Raju Bishwakarma called his friends and family in Nepal to ask for help. He said that he would be released only if he paid five months salary. After some time he was found dead.
Newsweek quoted the Overseas Employment Board of Nepal as saying that many Nepali people have died in The Line project. There are 650 people whose cause of death is not clear.
The Saudi government has denied the allegations and called them false. In a statement, the Saudi government said the number of deaths per 1 lakh workers was 1.12. This is extremely low.
Saudi spent 40 lakh crore rupees on NEOM project A city named 'The Line' will be established under the project. It will be a car-free city just 200 meters wide and 170 kilometers long. However, according to the BBC, only 2.4 km of the project will be completed by the year 2030.
Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman wanted to build this project under Vision 2030. However, now the project will be completed in different phases.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
