If you were ever to camp in the Hisma desert of Saudi Arabia, you would be fascinated by the quaint silence. There are golden dunes that will take your breath away as you make your way to the shades offered by the great mountains. The rugged landscape is a great escape for adventures. And if you are well versed in the region’s geography, you could spot some rare secret water spots hidden by narrow ways into the mountains. At night the starry skies act as the greatest tapestry for travellers.
You could hear the continuous flow of the desert wind. It’s everywhere and every time. You could sense it during the hot day and at night. Other than that, it’s rarely noisy.
Globally recognized journalist Johnny Harris had a similar experience as he explored Saudi Arabia and mingled with the local tribes. He enjoyed traditional dishes at night and made drone footage in the morning.
He said on one of his documentaries on YouTube, that while he could hear nothing but silence, in a few far away distances, there were boisterous sounds. These were the trucks, bringing loads of construction materials: cement, coal, heavy vehicles, and other equipment. They were all headed in one direction: near the coast of the Red Sea. It was somewhere near the Jordan border. They were heading to NEOM.
An estimated $1.5 trillion project, NEOM is a newly laid-out region in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk province. It is a collection of independent projects such as the Island resort SINDALAH, the 50% on land and 50% on sea constructed OXAGON urban city/seaport, the luxurious MAGNA resort, TROJENA, a super luxury mountainous city to enjoy, live, and work, and a 170 km-long city by the name of THE LINE.
With a brief visit to NEOM’s official website, one could easily spot the videos of each of these super projects. Upon observing, these seem unrealistic—a design that seems too futuristic to be real, too exquisite to be parable. But according to NEOM, they are 100% real.
But as of 2025, NEOM has been seen drowning in several controversies. The project is being hailed as an utter sinkhole. A dream that could take a lot more years than promised in the beginning. And requiring an eye-opening budget of $8.8 trillion. A Wall Street report says that this is 25 times the budget of Saudi Arabia. The investors who effusely poured in their hundreds of millions into the company are now seeing their graphs going deep downhill. All but one: McKinsey & Company which has been religiously receiving their $130 million annual service charges.
The project has recently been found embroiled in a power political struggle. It turns out this has been going on since last October. Nadhmi Al Nasr, the former CEO of NEOM, resigned, giving way to a new team to take the dream project forward. This all happened weeks before a $45 million party was meticulously arranged by the team to attract global businessmen and celebrities.
It has been revealed that the budget now exceeds far greater than planned. The financial projects have been dead wrong. The project threatens the natural environment and the inhabitants. Migrant workers have died working on the sites. The blame falls on the executives as they have been accused of hiding the real money required as well as some other things from prince Muhammad Bin Salman himself.
The report accuses certain McKinsey & Company members who did manipulation in the project, conjuring up rosy pictures, and justifying astronomical costs.
A manager of a sub-project was also fired after challenging the estimated costs. Officials of both NEOM and McKensey have denied the reports and the findings.
As part of the new Saudi plan, NEOM has turned out to give an outcome that is far from parable. Despite the management‘s efforts to silently cover these slip-ups, the news has circulated as the investors are now questioning their decisions.
This hasn’t been something unusual. Gulf countries are known for claiming and even announcing exaggerated high-end projects that often are slowed down, halted due to budget restraints, or even delayed to uncertain deadlines. These projects are hailed as something revolutionary, cornerstones of something grand and yet to come.
The question persists, with the current list of controversies, will NEOM come out the way it’s been hailed to the world or is it another hotpot of corruption and controversies?
