Multinational engineering company AECOM has signed up to provide Saudi megaproject Neom with transport designs and infrastructure.
“NEOM’s next generation cognitive cities will support its cutting-edge urban environments, improving the lives of residents and businesses far beyond the capabilities of today’s smart cities; it will be a beacon for future living,” said Brett Smythe, chief projects officer of NEOM.
“Improving the lives of residents” is one way to put it – considering that tens of thousands of members of the Huwaitat community look set to be displaced for their land by the project.
AECOM, a company with assets valued at more than $14bn, has worked on a multitude of projects previously, from nuclear power stations to the Olympics. It has worked on rail development schemes in the UK such as Crossrail and High Speed 2, Abu Dhabi airport, Etihad Towers and the Fort Knox Gold Mine.
AECOM has a number of scandals and embarrassments associated with its brand. One notable case was that of its involvement in Iraq after the US-led invasion.
AECOM was tasked with supplies for the Iraqi army – and was paid an enormous $1.1 billion to do so. An audit, however, noted that AECOM had potentially over-billed or could not account for 14% of the $30.6m that was available to be examined.
Carmen Lawrence in the Guardian noted: “To give an example, documents showed that AECOM exorbitantly overcharged for routine items such as replacement parts: it charged $237 for a vehicle mirrors costing only $14.88, submitted invoices seeking reimbursements of $196.50 for a bag of 10 washers costing only $1.22, $10 for a 45-cent fuse, and $210 for an inner tube that was supposed to cost $24.09. Such assessed charges by AECOM represent cost inflations on cheap, commonly available items in the order of several thousand per cent.”
Other than those at AECOM looking forward to lining their pockets, Saudi Arabia will be pleased that it has managed to find another international partner. The kingdom’s human rights violations, war crimes in Yemen and murder of journalists has meant it has received less than the level of support it expected.
What do we know about AECOM, Neom’s latest signing?
Further reading
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