- Malcolm Aw said he withdrew from a contract with Neom over alleged human rights abuses by Saudi Arabia.
- The CEO of Solar Water told BI that it had plans to build solar desalination plants.
- Human rights activists say tribesmen are being forcibly evicted to make way for the megalopolis.
A green energy founder pulled out of a $100 million Neom deal after realizing the Saudis were bulldozing villages to make way for the megacity.
Malcolm Aw, CEO and founder of Solar Water, told Business Insider that he initially became involved with Neom to help it realize its ambitions as a pioneering green energy “eco-city”.
Neom is the centerpiece of Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 project aimed at diversifying the Saudi economy away from fossil fuels and transforming it into a luxury tourist destination and innovation hub.
However, Aw said he was so dismayed by reports of human rights abuses that he canceled the Neom contract in 2022, despite having already built some of his desalination plants there.
“They’re bulldozing their way through villages and everything, which is just incredible,” Aw said.
Oh, I spoke to BI afterwards BBC News reported that an exiled Saudi colonel said Saudi Arabia authorized the use of deadly force to clear the way for its Neom desert megacity.
Colonel Rabih Alenezi said he was ordered to evict people living on the land to make way for part of the project called Line. The region was mainly populated by the Huwaitat tribe.
The BBC said it was unable to independently verify Alenezi’s comments on deadly force.
However, satellite images analyzed by the BBC show that three villages, including schools and hospitals, were destroyed to make way for Neom.
One of the villagers, Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti, was was then allegedly killed by Saudi authorities, » declared the UN.
“What they tried to do is turn the whole province into Dubai or Qatar or something like that, but in doing so they are driving people out of the region who have been there for years,” said Aw.
“These people could make a big contribution to all this development. You know the villages have all been removed.”
Aw, who is a descendant of Tiger Balm founder Aw Boon Haw, told BI that he was initially attracted to the Neom project because of its commitment to green energy and ecology.
Aw’s company uses solar energy for desalination, while most desalination plants burn fossil fuels and pollute the oceans. Neom had offered Aw’s company, Solar Water, $100 million for exclusive rights to use its technology.
Neom city planners say they want to become an “eco-city”, with the flagship project “The Line” – a mirrored vertical skyscraper crossing the desert – running on 100% renewable energy and 95% of the land preserved for nature. They say they are committed to “respecting the existing communities and cultural heritage of our region.”
But Aw believes that promises are not being kept and that city planners are reversing their original vision of the city.
“What they are doing is unethical and what they are doing is creating exclusivity to house rich people in a rich tourist area. But that was not the original idea. The idea was to develop a green scenario,” he said.
“The general idea that we have come with is to make the place green, and so that the people, the local people, the indigenous people who have been there for ages, for centuries, can participate in the development,” Aw said . “But then they change course. Suddenly they’re totally different from what we expected, and in doing so they’ve caused a lot of damage.”
Neom declined to comment on Aw’s claims. The Saudi embassy in the UK did not respond to a request for comment.
Saudi Arabia is trying to assuage public criticism of its Vision 2030 Projects.
Last year, BI reported that the crackdown had extended to those who criticized the evictions on social media, with Fatima al-Shawarbi sentenced to 30 years in prison for speaking out.
The project has been plagued by problems in recent months, with costs reaching around $1 trillion and key projects delayed or scaled back. In April, Bloomberg reported that Saudi authorities were reducing the number of people expected to live in Neom from around one million to 300,000 by 2030. The report also said the length of the line could be reduced by around 100 miles to a mile.
Aw urged planners to stick to their original ethical and ecological vision.
“You know, we have the technology to solve the (green energy) problem that people are complaining about today. Absolutely. Absolutely. But there’s just no vision or ethical commitment,” did he declare.
News Source : www.businessinsider.com
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