Sunday 30 / June / 2024
MUSCAT: An ambitious project to provide an alternative access by road to the picturesque Al Jabal Al Akhdar took a major step forward on Monday with the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MoTCIT) floating a tender for consultancy services for design of a road connecting Jabal Al Akhdar to South Al Batinah.
The ministry put up the tender notice on its official website seeking interested parties to submit the tender before 15 October, 2023.
The bid is for the preparation of tender documents for the design and building of the road linking Jabal Al Akhdar with South Al Batinah. The tender documents will be available for sale from September 17.
The scope for work includes evaluation of submitted financial and technical bids, providing clarification support to the bid enquires, preparing the contract document, and carrying value engineering exercises for the offers.
The road project is expected to provide easier access to Oman’s most popular and prominent city with the rest of the country without four-wheel drive vehicles, ultimately enhancing tourist traffic to the scenic green mountains.
Earlier, this year, the ministry had said that a preliminary feasibility study for an alternative route from South Al Batinah to Jabal Akhdar was completed.
Additionally, plans are underway to lay a 32km road to Jabal Shams to improve tourism in this popular hill station.
The ministry said that the preliminary feasibility study for the road was completed in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning.
According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total number of visitors this year until the end of June 2023 were around 79,034, which included 28,406 Omanis, 3,848 from Saudi Arabia and 45,302 from rest of the world.
The government is keen to promote tourism activities in the mountain town and had organised a successful Al Jabal Al Akhdar Festival last month.
The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism along with the Al Dakhiliyah Governorate Office organised the festival, to introduce the cultural heritage and natural beauty of Al Jabal Al Akhdar, in particular, and the Sultanate of Oman in general.
The Wilayat of Al Jabal Al Akhdar is one of the favourite tourist destinations for many visitors in the Sultanate of Oman during the summer due to its pleasant weather in summer, and the availability of various hotel facilities.
The wilayat also witnesses an influx of tourists during the summer to participate in activities such as mountaineering, hiking, and enjoying the mild weather.
Pomegranates, walnuts, apricots, black grapes and peaches all grow in Al Jabal Al Akhdar and the area is well-known for its rose water extraction done by the farmers that have lived in these terraced villages for hundreds of years.
