A’Suwaiq: Following the Royal directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik, the Ministerial Committee tasked with assessing the damages caused to citizens’ homes and properties by the recent climatic condition /Shaheen/ held its second meeting.
The Committee, headed by Sultan Salim Al Habsi, Minister of Finance, Chairman of the Financial and Economic Committee emanating from the Council of Ministers, is considering all forms of support and assistance to alleviate the impacts of the adverse climatic condition on public life.
The members of the ministerial committee are joined in their mission by heads of sectors of the National Committee for Emergency Management (NCEM). They all reviewed the outcome of field visits, preliminary reports estimating the damages, and the tasks undertaken by the sector of Shelter and Relief, basic services and public health.
They studied what has been achieved so far with a view of unifying efforts towards restoring normalcy and protecting lives.
The committee valued efforts made to facilitate traffic on roads and restore services. The Head of the Ministerial Committee underscored the need to speed up the completion of relief work through direct awarding of projects on road maintenance and basic services.
The Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology affirmed that offers have been finalised for repairing the Widam Al Sahel-Hafait Road, Wadi Bani Omar Road, Wadi Al Hawasna Road and Wadi Hibbi Road.
The Committee reviewed the progress made in restoring public services to stricken areas and noted the difficulty of reaching out to some villages.
The Committee also took note of work accomplished in the re-connection of electrical power, notably in the wilayats of Al Khabourah and A’Suwaiq where the mission was accomplished at a rate of 92% to 60%, respectively till this evening.
Efforts are also underway to restore telecommunication services through the operation of mobile connection units and the linking of some stations in stricken areas with outside stations. All companies have been instructed to find alternative measures to restore the services.
In the meantime, the Sultan’s Armed Forces joined hands with the national relief mission by providing 160 water tankers to transport water to citizens’ homes.
Other measures undertaken to ease the suffering of families in some stricken areas included the leasing of 160 furnished flats till such time that the services are restored.
The Ministry of Social Development affirmed that it is pressing ahead with similar types of assistance, including renting flats to maintain the stability of family life for those whose homes have been damaged.
The public health sector conducted campaigns through which waste water was drained and public areas disinfected.
Study in schools of North Al Batinah and South Al Batinah governorates has been suspended and will resume on Sunday, 10 October.
The Head of the Ministerial Committee reiterated that donation initiatives from individuals and establishments will be routed through bank accounts of Oman Charitable Organisation.
The members of the committee value the efforts of all parties that shared the responsibilities of the national relief mission. -- ONA
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