World’s tallest building delayed by a year

The developer behind the 1km-high Jeddah Tower (previously known as the Kingdom Tower) in Saudi Arabia has said that construction will now be completed in 2019 – a year later than originally scheduled.

According to The National, Hisham Jomah, the chief development officer of Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), confirmed that the project would be delayed following funding issues with contractor Saudi Binladin Group.

Jomah said JEC is looking to pick up the pace of work on the building, which is set to be the world’s tallest tower.

He explained that the delay in the project – formerly known as Kingdom Tower – was “due to a number of factors – mainly to the contractor”, namely the Saudi Binladin Group.

“Basically, it’s a financial problem. Until we secured a loan from the bank… to make sure that the cash flow for the contractor is more stable for the time schedule,” Jomah told the Abu Dhabi-based newspaper.

Saudi Binladin Group, having been hit by government spending cuts, has laid off tens of thousands of workers, amid widespread allegations of delayed salary payments.

While Jomah insisted that work on the Jeddah Tower site never came to a halt, he confirmed that it was “at a very low pace for a period of time of three to four months”.

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