Ministry launches matrix for prioritising road projects

Muscat: The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology has launched a matrix for identifying and prioritising road projects. The aim is to develop a methodology with clear-cut and approved standards for improving the governance system of road construction and road maintenance projects.

This matrix will serve as a guide in prioritising the implementation, construction and restoration of roads, said the ministry, noting that the algorithm will facilitate decision-making prior to submitting the projects to authorities entrusted with approving annual government plans and related budgets.

The matrix seeks to ensure transparency and fairness in distributing road projects among the governorates of Oman in a manner that also ensures the completion of economic and social development objectives.

The matrix comprises six main criteria that are applied to projects listed among the ministry's priorities, namely the strategic criterion, the economic criterion, the social criterion, the technical or engineering criterion, the environmental criterion and the construction and maintenance cost criterion.

This is in addition to sub-criteria attached to the objectives of each criterion. 

The matrix for prioritising road projects will be activated according to a clear methodology and governance. Along with its standards, the matrix will be used as a unified reference for evaluating and setting priorities for construction and rehabilitation of all roads falling under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology and to be submitted to the Ministries of Economy and Finance within annual development plans.

The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology will periodically evaluate the inputs and outputs of this matrix, ensuring the quality of its work evaluation, the quality of analysis, the periodic review of standards and weights, and submitting any proposals to the relevant authorities, while ensuring the involvement of the governorates in the process of inventorying and collecting the necessary data to complete the annual assessment inputs according to the criteria of the matrix.

Additionally, the Ministry will analyse and evaluate all the accumulated applications resulting from the annual inventory by adding them to the matrix to determine the list of priority roads for construction, construction and rehabilitation, and then submitting the results annually to the Ministry of Economy according to project forms. The approved timetable for annual development plans will be evaluated and approved later by the Ministry of Finance.