Homes for displaced Omani families being built

Muscat: Homes for 17 families, which were displaced by an intense fire in Jaalan, are being built by the Ministry of Housing (MoH).
This was anounced by Maryam Hamad Al Sharji, head of Design at the ministry’s Directorate General of Housing Projects, on the sidelines of the conference “Innovative Energy and Smart Building Solutions for Oman” at the City Seasons Hotel on Tuesday.
She added that the ministry is also compensating people whose houses have been affected by the Al Batinah Coastal Road Project.
“We are building 2,200 homes for properties affected by the new road project,” Al Sharji said, adding that housing designs had been made with respect to the traditional Omani standards, which include an exterior majlis (guest room) and provides privacy.
Moreover, 97 homes are also being provided for families affected by dust emissions from a cement factory in the Al Awabi area.
It’s worth mentioning that the MoH provides special social housing programmes for certain categories of Omani families with a low income, and for social security families.
“Such programmes were established for the provision of social housing services to provide healthy homes and improve the living standards of those families,” Al Sharji added.
Currently, the ministry is working on three housing programmes.
One of them is the Housing Assistance Programme, which according to Al Sharji, provides a home for low-income families and those who are on social welfare.
This means that only families with a monthly income of OMR300 or less can benefit from the service, which grants those families between OMR20,000 and OMR25,000.
According to Al Sharji, family members can also recommend some changes to the original design and discuss them with the contractor.
The programme has been providing homes to less privileged families since 1981.
So far, OMR405,102,673 have been spent on the programme, accounting for OMR11,914,784 per year as 23,537 families have benefited from the programme, recording an average of 692 families per year.
Al Sharji said the ministry has been facilitating housing loans for certain families since 1991.
“Around 8,558 families have benefited from the programme, recording an average of 356 families every year,” she explained.
More than OMR160 million have been spent on the programme until date. Moreover, Al Sharji revealed that new master plans are underway in the Sultanate, including housing units, mosques, Majlis, Quran schools and other amenities.
The conference was organised by Advantage Austria Muscat—the Austrian Economic Delegation in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Tariq bin Shabib Al Said, patron of the Environment Society of Oman (ESO).
In his speech, Al Said pointed out that low oil prices had resulted in the country adopting austerity measures. “However, this will help accelerate the adoption of more efficient energy technologies.”