Friday 26 / July / 2024
Muscat: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning announced that the proposals of the governorates of Dhofar, Musandam, South Al Batinah took the lead in a contest for submitting the best proposal for a development project that can be implemented in one of the governorates.
This was unveiled at an open meeting between the ministry’s officials and governors in Muscat on Sunday.
After the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning evaluates the top three winning projects and approves them, the Ministry of Finance provides financial allocations for them.
The initiative seeks to encourage the governorates to find development projects that are compatible with the National Strategy for Urban Development, which constitutes a template for urban growth in line with Oman Vision 2040.
The strategy accords priority to the development of governorates and the establishment of sustainable cities, notably by providing an incentive for competition to come up with new and innovative projects.
Eleven projects from all governorates were submitted for the contest.
The committee that assessed the projects during the competition was headed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning and it comprised members from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy and Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-up Unit.
The committee hosted the governors and project operators and listened to their views as they outlined their respective projects.
The open meeting was held in implementation of the Royal directives of His Majesty the Sultan requiring all units of the State’s Administrative Apparatus to coordinate on a regular manner with the governors in all matters pertaining to their governorates. The aim is to ensure integration in performance and avoid duplication.
During the meeting, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning made a visual presentation about Sultan Haitham City project. It elaborated on Royal directives to promote housing assistance programmes and the system of giving addresses.
The meeting dealt with the ministry’s future plans and projects within the purviews of the urban strategy, projects of the National Initiative for Integrated Residential Neighbourhoods (Sorouh), investment aspects related to land use contracts (usufructs), the promotion of decentralisation and the delegation of powers to directors-general in the governorates.
