Friday 03 / May / 2024
Muscat: The business community and people at large, who were feeling constrained due to the pandemic-related restrictions, have widely welcomed the decision to completely end the lockdown.
With the lifting of curbs, the businessmen and traders hope that they would be able to pare the losses which they have suffered due to lockdown.
On Thursday, in a first step towards the normalisation of daily activities, the Supreme Committee tasked with tackling developments resulting from coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic decided to terminate the lockdown on commercial activities and the ban on movement of people and vehicles from Saturday evening (August 21, 2021).
“There is no doubt that the end of the night ban has several benefits, whether at the internal level or at the external level,” Ahmed bin Said Al Sharqi, the Head of the Economic and Financial Committee at Shura Council, speaking exclusively to Times of Oman, said.
“We hope during this period there will be a recovery of the economy in Oman, especially since there has been an improvement in the prices of crude oil since the past five months.
With vaccination drive against COVID-19 gaining momentum and constant decline in the number of new cases the growth is expected to gain pace,” he said.
“All of this will help revive the economy with an expected growth of 2.5 per cent during the second half of 2021, compared to the same period last year, when there was a contraction rate of 0.6 per cent to 0.7 per cent,” Al Sharqi further said.
Saif Al Badi, the head of Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) branch in Al Dhairah governorate said, “The reopening of borders will boost the logistics activities and the exchange of products with neighbouring countries like Saudi Arabia and between the governorate.”
“During the ban period, although the movement of cargo trucks was allowed, the logistic movement was restricted and less active. The opening of the borders will also revive the tourist movement, the hotel sector and accommodation,” he added.
“The restaurant sector and street vendors were the most affected, as their peak time was in the evening time.” Al Badi said. “We hope that the market will recover with the return of normal movement. However, one should take into account the fact that the virus is still present and we must be careful and adhere to precautionary measures because human life and health always come first.”
Al Badi further said, “I call on the concerned institutions to put more facilities in the import and export of goods and monitoring the markets to avoid the rise in the prices of goods because we will not achieve a recovery in the economic movement if the prices are not within the reach of the consumer and this will lead to inflation in the market.”
Maysa Al Jafari, the owner of Dresses Renta shop said: “Cancellation of the evening closure decision will positively help in activating the purchasing power in the market, especially in the field of activity in which I work because the limitations of opening period and ban on holding of social events which affect the time available for sale, and I think now the market activity will recover.”
On Thursday, in another major step towards normalcy, the Committee decided to endorse the general framework of school operation for the academic year 2021-2022, in accordance with a mechanism to be unveiled by the Ministry of Education.
With the reopening of schools, emphasis will be laid on total commitment to precautionary measures as per the Health Protocol aimed to ensure the safety of students, teaching and administrative staff.
The situation will be assessed later in line with developments of the pandemic’s situation in the Sultanate.
The Supreme Committee also took two more decisions on Thursday that will be enforced with effect from September 1, 2021.
The first decision endorses the principle of vaccination as a condition for entry to government and private sector establishments (including commercial complexes, restaurants and other business outlets), as well as venues hosting cultural, sports and group activities. The heads of government units have a duty to take necessary action to implement the public safety measures.
Moreover, it also made two-dose vaccination mandatory for people aged 18 years and above who wish to enter the Sultanate through all land, sea and air outlets, in addition to a PCR test before or upon arrival to the Sultanate. Those who got infected with the virus must undergo a 7-day quarantine and redo the PCR test on the 8th.
The Supreme Committee urged people to stick to all precautionary measures set by the authorities concerned, including wearing face masks and maintaining physical distance at residences, the workplace and public places—and never to let their guard down.
Also, due to the rapid pace of propagation of coronavirus variants, the Supreme Committee will keep monitoring and assessing the situation, locally and internationally, as it will take appropriate decisions when deemed necessary.
Following the Royal directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik to take appropriate action to address challenges posed by coronavirus pandemic during the next stage—to safeguard public health and, at the same time, sustain the continuity of tasks of public and private sectors, the Committee held a meeting on Thursday under the chairmanship of Sayyid Hamoud Faisal Al Busaidi, Minister.
