Big Saudi Project Puts Workers In Danger

Billed as a futuristic citystate with dazzling architecture including parallel 106mile-long skyscrapers taller than the Empire State Building, Neom is the centerpiece of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plans to transform his oil-rich country into a modern diversified economy.

- RORY JONES AND ELIOT BROWN

But for its 100,000 workers, the world's biggest construction project has been more like a dystopia.

Neom employees have reported incidents of gang rape, suicide, attempted murder and drug dealing on the site, slated to cover an area the size of Massachusetts. Last year, a McKinsey consultant died in a head-on crash at night even after safety staff warned Neom management about the danger of driving late on the region's roads. Laborers at one of the migrant worker camps mounted a violent protest over frustration with food. Children as young as 8 have been caught driving trucks.

Current and former Neom staff say the incidents illustrate what can go wrong when so many people arrive in an isolated part of the world to build a highly ambitious project on an unrealistically aggressive timetable.

Neom is set to face even greater scrutiny as soccer's world governing body this month appointed Saudi Arabia host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup, with the project expected to build one of the major stadiums for the event.

Neom has made an effort to set high standards for the accommodation for blue-collar workers, current and former employees said, conscious of the bad publicity around big Gulf construction projects for events such as the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

"Protecting the welfare of those working on-site is a top priority," a Neom spokesperson said. She added that contractors and third parties have to comply with Neom's welfare standards, and that Neom investigates inappropriate workplace behaviors as well as any allegations of wrongdoing or misconduct. Neom's safety management system is based on international standards and audited by the British Safety Council, a U.K.-based nonprofit, she said.

The Saudi government, which owns the Neom project, didn't respond to a request for comment.