SCE to release list of holders of fake degrees

Jeddah, Jan 7: As part of new regulatory efforts to eradicate employment of unqualified engineers, the Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE) will release a blacklist including the names of 1,700 Saudi and non-Saudi professionals who forged their credentials in order to prevent them from practicing the profession in the country. The council hopes to put an end to an ongoing issue that has created problems with numerous projects and caused tremendous construction delays in many cases.

Sources close to the council disclosed that the individuals whose names appear on the list have yet to be officially penalized and punished.

According to officials, the board is coordinating with the Labor Ministry and other governmental bodies to prepare the list. Hamad Nasser Al-Shaqawi, the commission’s chairman, confirmed that the list’s aim is to prevent these individuals from working as engineers in the Kingdom, or in any government sector, even if they obtain legal certificates in the future.

Since 2010 the council has been working to verify engineering certificates of all Saudi citizens and foreign professionals in the Kingdom. More than 1,700 fraudulent diplomas were identified over the course of one year.

These impostors have been able to work for years in the country due to the laxity of regulations and lack of any punishment for violators. “Exposing them in a list is the lightest way of punishing them, since they deserve far worse,” Al-Shaqawi said.