Featured Image Credit: NEOM
Topics: Money, News, World News, The Line
Kit Roberts
Saudi officials have responded to claims that the country's project The Line will shrink from its original planned size.
The Line is a part of NEOM, a flagship project in Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's Vision 2030 policy programme to diversify the Saudi Arabian economy and reduce its dependance on oil.
Originally the project had been conceived as an 105 mile long city which was just 200 meters wide with no roads or cars, accommodating nine million people.
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A description of the ambitious project on the NEOM website reads: "No roads, cars or emissions, it will run on 100% renewable energy and 95% of land will be preserved for nature.
"People's health and wellbeing will be prioritized over transportation and infrastructure, unlike traditional cities."
Construction has started on the project, but there have already been reports about revisions on the size, scaling it back to just 1.5 miles to be completed by 2030.
Now Saudi Arabia's minister of economy Faisal Al Ibrahim has responded to the claims.
Speaking to CNBC, he claimed that the 'intended scale' would be 'continuing as planned', though he did not clarify on the timescale, saying: "There is no change in scale. It is a long-term project that's modular in design."
He also said that 'all projects are moving full steam ahead', adding: "We set out to do something unprecedented and we're doing something unprecedented, and we will deliver something that's unprecedented."
Al Faisal went on to say that Saudi Arabia will 'continue delivering these projects in a manner that meets these priorities, delivers these projects and has the optimal healthy impact for our economy and the non-oil, the healthy non-oil growth within it'.
It has also been reported that the Saudi government is seeking new external investment into NEOM on top of the $925 billion it has already received from its national sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund.
The project has also been at the centre of controversy around the land on which it is being constructed.
Middle East Eye reported in February 2023 that 47 members of the Al-Howeitat tribe had been either arrested or detained after they resisted eviction from the land earmarked for NEOM in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk province.
The Al-Howeitat have lived in the area both nomadically and as a settled group for generations, and as many as 20,000 could face displacement according to Al Jazeera.
Human rights organisation Alqst published a report called The Dark Side of Neom which found that 14 members of the Al-Howeitat tribe had been given prison sentences between 15 and 50 years.
At least three were sentenced to death for 'peacefully resisting the forcible displacement of their tribe'.
A letter from the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations rejected the claim the three men sentenced to death were punished for peacefully resisting displacement, claiming instead they were connected to terrorist organizations Daesh and Al-Qaida.
The letter added: "The information contained in the joint communication is inaccurate and contains false allegations and claims that are based solely on information received from the source without substantiation or evidence.
"The joint communication alleged that the penalties imposed on the said persons were simply for expressing their opposition to the evictions, which is totally untrue.
"The penalties imposed on them were for being convicted of terrorist offences."