RIYADH – More than 1,000 bogus engineering certificates were seized from foreigners last year, according to an official from the Kingdom's top body for engineers. Dr. Ghazi Al-Abbasi, secretary general of the Saudi Engineering Council, said all those caught were banned from practicing engineering in the Kingdom. “On an average, the council officials seize three fake certificates a day.” According to Al-Abbasi, the Kingdom records an annual loss of about SR2 billion due to stalled projects. The presence of unqualified engineering professionals also contributes to this situation, he said. Al-Abbasi noted that the Kingdom's budgeted spending for the current fiscal year amounted to SR800 billion. “Around half of this amount has been allocated for projects that required engineering works. There are numerous projects that have been stalled “due to poor and faulty engineering design.” He said the council was keen to maintain the academic standards and professional capabilities of engineers. Saudi Arabia is among the countries that spend very little on engineering design work, he said, adding this was one of the reasons for the rising number of stalled projects. Al-Abbasi criticized restricting the awarding of engineering design contracts to only two companies. “The council will submit a memorandum to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to distribute engineering design contracts among various companies and firms. There are engineering design work worth a total of SR8 billion for these projects, and we look forward to take advantage of them to support the Saudi engineers and engineering offices.” Al-Abbasi said there are more than 30,000 Saudi engineers and 4,000 engineering offices in the Kingdom. Among Saudi engineers, only half are registered with the council, in addition to 120 foreigners.
