‘Mountain Man’ of Oman overwhelmed by Royal honour

Muscat: Saeed bin Hamdan, an Omani volunteer, who supervised the construction of a road connecting two mountainous villages, was surprised and overwhelmed when he received the Order of Commendation from His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik.

Saeed brought an excavator and took up the cudgel to provide connectivity to the people living in the mountainous terrain.

Defying all odds, he successfully built a link road shortening the distance of 200 kms to only 10 kms and travel time from 3.5 hours to just 30 minutes.

The road link was a great relief for the villagers of Halut in the mountainous Niyabat Tiwi of South Al Sharqiyah Governorate and Al Oud in Wilayat of Wadi Bani Khalid in North Al Sharqiyah Governorate. Congratulating him, Ahmed Al Futaisi, former Minister of Transport and Communications, said: “A Sultan’s Order and a well-deserved honour for Saeed, who put his effort and money for constructing mountain roads to serve the people of remote villages and provide them with a lifeline.”

Speaking to Times of Oman, Saeed bin Hamdan, said that the award was a surprise for him. “It is an honour and a pride for me to get the Royal Commendation Order,” he said.

When asked about the other important initiatives of Saeed apart from the road construction, he said that he participated in the digging of some water wells in the mountainous villages, where one has been completed and the rest are still in the digging process.

Saeed has also worked on constructing 26 km of shortcut and internal cemented roads in the Tiwi and Sabiyat mountains.

 He advised Omani youth to be diligent and work hard to bring goodness and progress to society and their nation.