By Umar AbdurRahman
A rare revolt by a Saudi tribe for killing of its tribesman has splitted fresh trouble for the planned crowned Prince, Red Sea mega city, which is to transform Saudi Arabia from an ultra-Islamic state to a modernised non oil-based economy by 2030.
$500 billion NEOM project, set to be built from scratch will be close to the size of Belgium and is to become a hub for "tourism, innovation and technology". It is part of MBS's Vision 2030 'to transform Saudi Arabia from an ultra-Islamic state to modernism and diversify its oil-based economy to IT and entertainment'.
Saudi activists and locals of the Tabuk province have been frustrating the project by refusal to make way for the project. Declaring the Saudi government has no right to uproot us from their lands and homes for their projects that don't benefit the region or the residents.
However, the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's is set to uproot all obstacles halting his dream project. Last month witnessed the gunning down of a member of Huwaitat tribe by security forces for refusing to give up his land along with other tribes men who refused to sign the relocation documents, whom await similar ordeal or imprisonment as some persons with similar stands has suffered.
This revolt is a rare domestic clash with the government that has a reputation for crushing dissent, activists and even scholars who criticizes or holds contrary opinion to the ruling house.
NEOM has said 20,000 people would need to be relocated to clear room for construction as it presses ahead with its target to complete its first sites by 2023.
Several Huwaitat tribesmen have rejected what they call "vague" compensation offers, activists told AFP, even as state-run media have published a pledge of loyalty by the tribe to Saudi rulers.
The campaigners say NEOM is designed to be a liberal expat enclave in a conservative nation that is unlikely to benefit local residents.
"Similar to the concept of 'eminent domain' used in Western law, the government is taking ownership of private land to use for the project... This happens all the time, all over the world when roads, train tracks or dams are built."
But forced evictions could backfire as economic pressures grow, observers warn.
But as part of his grand ambition to pivot the economy away from oil, Prince Mohammed looks set to press ahead with NEOM, billed as a regional Silicon Valley whose marketing slogan is a "bold and audacious dream".
Of what benefit would ibn Saud's dream for a modernised non-Islamic state be, other than pleasing US, the state security organ and Britain, the colonial master, the ruling house is ever indebted to.