Decentralisation can revive remote Omani villages

Our society has changed a lot in the last three decades. The extent of this impact comes from globalisation that have reached the depths of our villages hidden under towering mountains.

But the change, in any case, has greatly affected the structure of society and its daily interaction with events and has affected some customs and traditions.

Omani villages are no longer full of life we knew until the nineties. That social interaction that built us up in our essence and increased the solidity, strength and immunity of society has diminished without us feeling it in the midst of the constructive and developmental action. Among the most important reasons for this decline or slowness in social or daily life interaction is what we can call, exaggeratedly, the ‘internal migration’ that many Omani villages have witnessed to the capital in search of jobs, work and a livelihood.

The capital, Muscat, has attracted the largest number of residents due to the concentration of jobs.

. The Omani villages far from Muscat Governorate are almost empty from Saturday evening to Thursday evening, except for a small minority of residents.

Friday is usually the only day when the villages regain some of their activity, although many families, with the complexity of their movement and their connection to the place, cannot return to the village on a weekly basis. This matter also requires a social and economic study, to understand its effects on the states and villages from a social and economic perspective, as well as from a deep civilisational construction of society in the long-term. Society does not grow on its own, but rather building awareness within it is what makes a living society capable of growth, and this awareness requires a lot of work, including society and human interaction, so that awareness can develop and advance society. Life in capitals, almost all capitals, is completely different from life in villages, which are based on the idea of daily social interaction, unlike cities, whose residents tend toward self-sufficiency, and this is understandable as a result of the multiplicity of places from which the residents of the capital came. This does not apply to the indigenous population of the capital who mostly inhabit old villages and not the modern population plans in the capital.

Thanks to the new thinking of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik al Said to establish a policy of decentralisation in the administrative structure of the state, it is possible within this framework to work in a thoughtful manner to dismantle the centralisation of employees in Muscat, and return the vast majority of them to the governorates, wilayats so that the villages can regain their vitality and role in social construction and the consecration of values and principles.

Despite the importance of the social aspect and civilisational construction in the idea, it also has important administrative and cultural aspects; the governorates that have been given new powers need employees with high competencies that are mostly monopolised by the centres, as well as need thinkers and intellectuals who can activate cultural work in the governorates and enrich activities and innovators in various fields. This proposal does not belittle anyone at all. I am talking about the majority and not the exceptions that exist everywhere. This matter is likely to have a profound impact on all levels.

In light of the availability of modern technology and the accompanying information revolution, the matter seems easier to implement than it was a decade or two ago. The employee’s office in many jobs is no longer that closed room defined by walls and a geographical location.

The employee’s office can now be anywhere from which he performs his work. There is now a global trend towards ‘remote’ work, and this type of work does not recognise the idea that the institution is basically a ‘building’.

The basic idea that I would like to put forward is to bring life back to Omani villages on a daily basis so that the social interaction returns in its deep meaning that has contributed throughout history to the production and consecration of values and principles and to the upbringing of generations

Translated by Badr al Dhafari

The original version of this article was published in Oman Arabic newspaper on October 27.