New strategy cuts down on number of stalled projects

A senior source at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs said the ministry has adopted a new strategy that has reduced the number of stalled projects by 13 percent.
The source claimed that 7,929 projects have been approved during the past seven years, of which 4,476 were completed, and 1,694 are on schedule.
According to the official, the ministry has made efforts to resolve the problem of delayed municipal projects by directing the development of a system to monitor the implementation of projects via geographic information system (GIS) technology.
As part of ongoing efforts to move plans ahead, the ministry is also working on prompting municipalities to establish an information database about ongoing projects, including the contractors implementing the project, the size of the work, and the percentage of completion.
Additionally, a management and public administration unit has been established in each municipality to monitor the quality of the projects and to assist in their implementation. A ministerial committee has also been established to study the causes of failing development projects and to propose appropriate solutions as per the royal decree, said the source.
The ministry has directed municipalities to quickly address the backlog of stalled projects by forming teams of specialists and technicians to follow up on the projects on the ground and urged contractors to redouble their efforts to meet project deadlines.
According to the source, all municipalities have been informed that their reports to the ministry must include a technical assessment for delayed or stalled projects, indicating the name of the project, the percentage of completion, the expected time period, the actions taken to address any delays, and the rate of the achieved progress. In case the contractors cannot meet the fixed deadlines, hefty fines will be applied depending on the delay of the project.
Another recent task undertaken by the ministry includes completing a vacant land inventory to be exploited immediately for other approved projects.