Gang rapes & suicides plaguing Saudi Arabia’s $1trillion NEOM mega project as city of the future becomes dystopian hell
A REEL of horrors including gang rapes and suicides have been reported on the site of Neom – Saudi Arabia’s $1 trillion megacity project.
Employees have reported incidents of rape, attempted murder and drug crimes riddling the hellish migrant camps for construction workers.
There has also been a string of on-site deaths, with a British company recording “no evidence” of any safety procedures.
The latest revelations come after a series of shocking insights into Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 vanity project – including 21,000 worker deaths in 8 years.
The bullying former CEO of Neom, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, was sacked in November after threatening to bury a worker in the desert.
Current and former employees have blamed the chaos on organisational failures and an unattainable, aggressive timetable.
Some 100,000 workers – mainly from foreign countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines – began moving to camps near the site in 2020, over two hours from any sizable city.
According to a report seen by The Wall Street Journal, the litany of horrors has been recorded by medical clinics in the worker camps.
One worker slashed his wrists after complaining that he wasn’t being paid, according to the report.
In 2022, 12 security guards from migrant-worker camps clashed in a mass brawl, leaving one unconscious after being attacked with a rock.
In March 2023, labourers launched a violent uprising to protest the quality of food they were being supplied at a Neom-regulated camp.
The workers were so disgusted that they hurled utensils and serving trays at the chefs and debris at buildings.
Also in 2023, a migrant worker was treated for a drug overdose and Neom staff later found bags of meth that was being sold to their employees.
On top of the crime and misery plaguing the worker camps, numerous fatal accidents have been reported on the construction site.
A British government-servicing company, Serco, delivered a damning assessment of the standards on the ground in 2022.
It wrote: “There is no evidence of a single cohesive strategic emergency plan covering the whole of Neom.”
Despite apparent efforts to improve safety procedures since then, one employee told The Wall Street Journal: “It is still the wild west.”
In 2023, workers perished in a variety of sickening accidents.
One died was blown up whilst handling explosives, another was crushed inside a tunnel, and one under a collapsed wall, and another was squashed when a tanker backed into him.
The spate of employee deaths last year sent executives scrabbling to provide assurances the situation would improve.
The action began with staff being asked to sign a whiteboard with a message making a commitment to safety, according to former Neom employees.
However, the “all-hands” meeting did not put an end to fatalities, with Abdul Wali Khan, a 25-year-old, being crushed by a falling metal gate just a few months later.
Last year, an employee of British consulting firm McKingsey was killed in a head-on crash at night after staff had warned Neom management about the fatal dangers of driving late on the region’s roads.
A Neom spokesperson said: “Protecting the welfare of those working on-site is a top priority.”
She added that contractors have to comply with Neom’s welfare standards, and that Neom investigates inappropriate workplace behaviour as well as allegations of wrongdoing or misconduct.
Earlier this year, a brave female reporter went undercover to reveal the dangerous and deadly working conditions inside Saudi Arabia.
More than 21,000 workers have died in just eight years since Mohammed bin Salman launched his Saudi Vision 2030 project, according to shocking statistics.
The documentary found staff complaining of feeling like “trapped slaves” and “beggars” in the country.
The project has also been beset by a number of embarrassing setbacks and scale-back announcements after it was initially projected to be complete by the end of this decade.
Officials admitted earlier this month that The Line – a 170km sideways skyscraper supposed to house 9 million people – will not be complete for 50 years.
Dr Frederic Schneider, an independent consultant on post-oil economic transitions in the Gulf region, told The Sun that Vision 2030 and NEOM were overly ambitious and nearly impossible from the very start.
He said: “When Vision 2030 was first announced there was a lot of talk about that it was hugely ambitious.
“Many people from the start said, ‘okay, this is not only ambitious, that’s almost impossible’.”
Despite the seemingly endless mayhem, the first part of the colossal project was completed earlier this year.
A luxury Red Sea resort – a man-made island called Sindalah – opened its doors to the world’s elite in October, boasting ultra-VIP hotels, restaurants and yacht marinas.
Saudi Arabia’s development will continue to be thrust into the global limelight as it prepares to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
The country has unveiled plans to build or upgrade 15 futuristic stadiums – 11 of which will be entirely new – amid accusations the government is attempting to “sports-wash” Gulf nation’s image.