Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — Different government agencies owe about SR100 billion in arrears to a group of contractors carrying out or have completed various development projects in the Kingdom. Dr. Nabeel Abbas, representative of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) for GCC regions, was quoted by Al-Eqtisadiah Arabic daily as saying that the delayed payment was the main cause of faltering projects. Pertinent Saudi regulations require a contracting company to continue working on a project for which it has signed the contract even if the government agency is not paying its dues regularly. Delay in payments does not mean that a contractor should stop working, Dr. Abbas said. In comparison, international laws stipulate that a contractor should be paid all due payments within 30 days of the maturity date. In the Kingdom, a contractor waits up to three to six months and in some cases a year for payments. However, delayed payments are not the only reason behind faltering projects, Dr. Abbas said. There could be many reasons like labor problem and lack of coordination between different agencies involved in the project. Dr. Abdullah Radwan, chairman of committee in charge of contracting companies at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said contractors do not have any control over the causes that delay the completion of a project. He cited bureaucratic bottlenecks and redtapism as the main culprits for faltering projects. He called for setting up a commission of contractors which take all contractors under its umbrella and propose solutions for in-time implementation of all projects. The Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) has sent a circular to all contracting companies regarding steps and arrangements proposed to deal with the faltering projects. The circular, issued by the Council of Ministers on 10/06/2013, includes the arrangements required by government agencies to issue permits to contracting companies within ten days of the submission of all necessary documents by them. Fahad Al-Hamadi, chairman of the committee in-charge of contracting companies at the CSC, called upon contractors to submit all required documents without any delay so that pertinent government agencies may issue them necessary permits allowing them to implement projects on time. Contractors can demand compensation for damages incurred as a result of delay on the part of a pertinent government agency to issue the necessary permits on time, Al-Hamadi said.
