Oman fully prepared in mitigating biological hazards

Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman is fully geared up to meet any biological threats or disasters, a senior officer at the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said.

Major Sarhan Al Mahrezi, Interpol Office in Muscat (NCP) in the General Directorate of Inquiries and Criminal Investigation, spoke exclusively to Times of Oman about the ways to meet the biological risks with the establishment of a national team.

Pact with Interpol

“The idea was summed up in partnership with the Interpol five years ago for creating a special Biohazards Unit,” he said.

The Sultanate of Oman was one of the first countries to take advantage of the Interpol initiative related to biosecurity, he added. 

“During the last few years, we have trained national cadres from various government, military and security agencies for the biosecurity initiative, and this year, Oman has participated in workshops related to biosecurity,” he added.

In the Governorate of Muscat, a workshop on strengthening national capabilities in mitigating the risks of biological accidents was organised by the Directorate General of Inquiries and Investigations, in cooperation with Interpol. The event began with the participation of a number of Royal Oman Police officers and specialists from government agencies.

The opening of the five-day workshop was sponsored by Brigadier Jamal bin Habib Al Quraishi, Director-General of Inquiries and Criminal Investigations at the Royal Oman Police, where he delivered a speech stressing the importance of raising the level of preparedness and building national capabilities for detecting and combating biological incidents and dealing professionally to reduce its severity or damages.

Brigadier Jamal Al-Quraishi also pointed out the importance of international cooperation to combat such incidents in the future.

Al-Mahrezi confirmed that despite the high level of security in Oman, this workshop has been organised to deal with similar cases and this does not mean that the Sultanate is under threat. 

Regarding how national cadres benefit from these workshops, Al-Mahrezi explained that they gain through their practical and scientific experiences, as tips provided by international experts from Interpol allow them to learn about the best international practices.