Business & Money | Tuesday 22 March, 2016 5:09 am |

The projects pertaining to Haj and Umrah pilgrimages will move ahead unhindered, while other projects will be reviewed and dealt with according to their priority. The Riyadh Metro project is also under way and is expected to be completed as per its schedule.

The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs is assessing the priority of the existing projects as per the recommendations of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs.
The review is being done in an effort to optimize the budgets of the projects and keep pace with current development trends, local media has reported.
Under new directions, the ministry has put on hold the process of granting and signing all new projects, with the exception of projects concerning services for Haj and Umrah pilgrims. 
According to a circular issued by the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Abdul Lateef Al-Sheikh, entitled “Halting, awarding and signing project contracts,” the ministry has decided to stop all such projects, including the additional works on existing projects.
The circular stressed the need to postpone all works on previously-endorsed projects, or those that had already been allocated to contractors, including the additional works for the fourth quarter of the financial year 1436/1437.
Besides the Haj and Umrah projects, the Riyadh Metro project is under way with full intensity. 
Alwalid Alekrish, director of construction Development Projects and project director of Riyadh Metro, was recently quoted as saying by a news agency that the 176-km metro project will not be delayed.
He said they are working in the same manner despite the decreasing oil prices, and paying the contractors on time. “The operations of Riyadh Metro, with six lines and 85 stations, will start by 2019. Electric trains without drivers are being developed as part of the operations.”
Alekrish said the implementation of the project is as per schedule and that they did not receive any instruction otherwise.