Okaz

WE are used to waiting for projects to be completed and we are also used to the disappointment we feel when some of these projects come out deformed and not up to standard.

We might find an explanation why these projects were deformed and not up to the standard they were conceptualized, if they were located in remote areas away from supervision and away from media. But when the end result of a big project in a big city is worse than disappointing and when such a project is quickly damaged and its flaws exposed within a few days, then we cannot remain silent. This is only an indication of the level of blatant negligence and intrepid corruption, where the contracting company that carried out this project did not fear or care about anyone.

The Andalus Tunnel in Jeddah has been a major topic of discussion among people on social media after many engineering faults were exposed. The newly appointed Jeddah mayor, Saleh Al-Turki, commented about this tunnel saying, «It was a rush decision to open this tunnel for traffic. It was unorganized. The project is a failure because of the contractor. There are many other reasons. We cannot accept a project, which is leaking water.»

The Andalus Tunnel was established in one of the major crossroads in Jeddah under the watchful eyes of officials.

It is natural to say that the municipality and the other related departments were monitoring this project from the beginning. There was a consultancy for the project in addition to a technical committee that was supposed to ensure its safety and quality. There was a committee that received this project and gave it the final approval. With all the points mentioned above and despite the fact that it took many years for this project to be completed, it came out in a sad shape in the second largest Saudi city and in an era of fight against corruption.

If we showed leniency toward the faults in this project, then we will not move a step forward. This project is a clear example of many other projects all over the Kingdom that were infected with corruption and exhausted billions of riyals from the country›s exchequer.

Let us focus here on Al-Andalus Tunnel. Before we discuss other projects that were infected with corruption, I want to ask the officials: What are you going to do here?