Despite the ongoing harsh criticism pointed towards Saudi NEOM project, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salaman (MBS) has continued his crackdown on al-Huwaiti tribe with the aim of implementing his controversial $500 billion megaproject.
Shortly after the killing of the citizen Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti, who refused to leave his grandfathers’ house in profit of NEOM project, Saudi Arabia authorities sentenced three members of the al-Huwaiti tribe to death for resisting their eviction.
According to AQST human rights group, Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) has sentenced to death three members of the al-Huwaiti tribe whose family, along with several others, have been forcibly evicted and displaced to make way for the Neom megaproject being pursued by the Saudi authorities.
The court handed down death sentences on Shadli, Ibrahim and Ataullah al-Huwaiti. Shadli al-Huwaiti is the brother of Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti, shot dead by security forces in April 2020 in his home in Al-Khariba, in the part of Tabuk province earmarked for the Neom project, after he posted videos on social media opposing the displacement of local residents to make way for the project.
Al-Huwaiti crisis emerged three years ago when the Saudi government started removing a number of villages to establish the NEOM megacity project.
Shadli was detained last year along with a number of his family members, who also received harsh prison sentences up to 50 years.
Social Media Outrage
The death sentences sparked a large-scale outrage among Saudi social media users, who launched a massive Twitter storm against the Saudi crown prince’s megaproject which, according to them, will never come true.
Human rights activist and journalist, Alia al-Hwaiti, said in a tweet that the prison sentences came as part of MBS’ revenge policy against Al-Hwaiti family after rejecting their forced eviction from their lands. He wants to kill them all, so no evidence will remain to prove his crime, she tweeted.
Dr. Hessa bint Muhammad Al-Madhi also tweeted: “In Saudi Arabia, private property can be forcibly expropriated, and if you resist you will be killed and accused of terrorism, and your family get arrested, sentenced to long prison terms or to death. This is what happened to al-Hwaiti family.
“Imagine that your brother Abdel Rahim Al-Hwaiti was killed and you were forcibly removed from your house and your brothers got arrested and sentenced to death. All this injustice has happened,” another Twitter account wrote.
A Dream Will Never Come True
In 2017, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman revealed the NEOM megacity project, that aspires to be the “safest, most efficient, most future oriented, and best place to live and work” in the kingdom.
NEOM’s land mass will extend across the Egyptian and Jordanian borders, rendering NEOM the first private zone to span three countries. The project will be backed by more than $500 billion over the coming years by Saudi Arabia.
However, critics accuse the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the driving force behind Neom, of greenwashing – making grand promises about the environment to distract from reality.
MBS earlier declared that the first city “in an area we call the NEOM Riviera will be there in 2020. However, satellite images showed that a single square has been built in the desert. Only palaces have reportedly been built for the country’s royal family.
Uncontrolled spending
In a recent report, Bloomberg Businessweek said that the futuristic megaproject looks like it took page right out of a movie.
Titled ‘MBS’s $500 Billion Desert Dream Just Keeps Getting Weirder,’ the report shed light on the expensive cost of the megacity project.
The Neom “style catalog” includes elevators that somehow fly through the sky, an urban spaceport, and buildings shaped like a double helix, a falcon’s outstretched wings, and a flower in bloom. There will be swim lanes for commuters and “smart” everything.
The project has tapped futurists, international architects, and even Hollywood production designers.
Neom appears to be one of the crown prince’s highest priorities, and the Saudi state is devoting immense resources to making it a reality.
