MAKKAH: ARAB NEWS

An acute shortage of cement is delaying most commercial and residential projects in Makkah, according to sources in the contracting sector. Amid an unprecedented construction boom featuring the implementation of several multibillion riyal projects in the central Haram area and other areas in Makkah, the worsening cement crisis is likely to affect nearly 70 percent of the projects, they said.

The cement price per bag has shot up to around SR20 within two months after the government’s intervention to fix the price at SR14, Al-Eqtisadiah business daily reported yesterday.

A number of officials in the contracting sector said the current crisis has been artificially engineered. They blamed cement dealers for worsening the crisis by creating fears about the scarcity of the product. Abdullah Saeedi, chairman of the contractors’ committee at Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the contractors are used to becoming victims of such unscrupulous practices.

“We are still struggling to come out of the fallout of the crisis that affected us a few months ago. Now we are facing another crisis created by some people and for which there is no justification whatsoever,” he said, adding contractors are in a predicament due to their failure to fulfill commitments to owners and developers of several construction projects.

Saeedi expected nearly 70 percent of construction projects might be hampered by the worsening cement shortfall. A bag of cement now costs over SR20 and it may shoot up further in the coming days unless concerned authorities urgently intervene. A cement crisis resulting from illegal trading and a steep hike in prices had triggered an intervention from authorities two months ago. As a result of the cement shortages, contractors and realtors in Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah and other cities in the western region had to pay SR25 per bag in the black market. It also raised the price of ready-mix cement from SR200 to SR350 per sq. meter.

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The ongoing construction work in Makkah is hit by the rise in cement prices, with builders calling on the authorities to interve