By Kaushalendra Singh — SALALAH: March 5 - An RO 15.6-million worth community project of the Ministry of Tourism is taking shape and is likely to be realised by the end of this year. ‘Ain Hamran Housing Project’ has 300 housing units spread over an area of 420,000 square metres. The project engineers are expecting the work to be completed by the deadline and the possession would be given to the community beneficiaries by the beginning of 2018. Saeed bin Ali Rafeet, Assistant Director-General of Dhofar Tourism, said the project is part of the government’s commitment to empower the local people with as much assistance as possible.
He gave an outline of the project and said: “Spread over 420,000 square metres, the project has 300 units of 600 square metres each in which 240 sqm is built up area and the rest is open space.” As per the plan, each unit has six rooms, one kitchen, 1 store and four bathrooms. As of now 33 per cent of the project has been completed and project engineers are hoping to complete it by the beginning of 2018 if the pace of work is maintained at today’s speed. “In addition to the residential structure, there are additional equally important infrastructural developments going on the project site. They include road network, sanitary network, water treatment plant and installation of electricity poles recreational facilities,” said Ali Rafeet and added that the MoT had been constantly monitoring the project.
The complex would have one big garden measuring 14mX50m, while six other gardens would spread over in the housing complex measuring 20mX20m. The project is being handled by Al Manarah Engineering Consultancy, while the contractors are Golden Horizon LLC. Besides being a social project, the on-going work has a lot to do with tourism, because the famous Ain Hamran is very close to the place and the prospective house owners as well as tourism officials are expecting the place to develop as an important location which can address the residential demand of people coming from faraway places to Salalah.
“Not everyone wants to stay in the city particularly during the Khareef season. The location falls between Salalah and Taqah. From Ain Rajat to the ongoing housing project there are not many residential accommodations. Hence, it would emerge as a stopover for the tourists. For the local people it would be an opportunity to do some business and facilitate rest rooms etc for the tourists,” said Musallam, a resident of Taqah. The project, according to him, got delayed due to some local issues. “As per original plan this should have been ready by now. The issues have sorted out and work has been progressing well. We expect it as an important facility for both locals and tourists,” he said.
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