Friday 03 / May / 2024
Muscat: The direct impact of weather conditions in North Al Batinah Governorate affected the population and infrastructure, damaging road, power and communications networks. The agricultural and residential areas also experienced serious losses as a result of the overflow of valleys.
The government, private, civil and community workers of North Al Batinah Governorate and other parts of the Sultanate of Oman continue to lend their helping hands to address the effects of the weather condition.
Officials' visit
The Government officials from various institutions in the country continue to visit the affected areas to monitor the damage caused by the rains and wadis in the various states of the North Al Batinah Governorate.
A number of officials, including, Their Excellencies, heads of various bodies, and some undersecretaries of the ministries visited the affected areas. Eng. Said Hamoud Al Ma’awali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, Engineer Khamis bin Muhammad Al Shamakhi, Undersecretary of Transport, Dr. Mansour bin Talib Al Hinai, Chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Authority, Engineer Badr bin Salem Al Mamari, Secretary General of the Tender Board, and Engineer Hamad bin Ali Al Nazwani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning for Housing, Sheikh Rashid bin Ahmed Al Shamsi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Development, accompanied by Mohammed bin Sulaiman Al Kindi, Governor of North Al Batinah, and a number of officials in the governorate, visited the states affected by the Al Matir Depression. On the other hand, Sheikh Khalid bin Hilal Al Maawali, the Speaker of the Shura Council, reviewed a number of affected states and listened to the citizens and enquired about their sufferings as a result of this weather condition.
Mohammed bin Sulaiman Al Kindi, Governor of North Al Batinah, said: “With combined efforts among all sectors of society and with support from all government service sectors, life will return to normal soon. There has been significant damage to property as a result of the weather condition in most of the wilayats, and efforts are continuing to address these impacts and restore the most important services.”
He added:”We faced great challenges in opening some secondary and mountain roads after they were affected by the flow of the valleys, but thanks to the sincere efforts of the people of the governorate, most of these roads were opened and work is underway to open the rest of the roads, especially the mountain ones. The first step was to return those who were in the shelter centres to their homes, ensure their safety, and provide them with basic necessities.”
He said that he follows up on a daily basis the repairs and effects resulting from the weather condition that is affecting the governorate.
He visited all the states in the governorate and listened to the concerns of citizens, their suggestions, opinions and aspirations. He promised to address the situation as quickly as possible and according to the available capabilities.
On the other hand, Their Excellencies the officials of the wilayats of the North Al Batinah Governorate played a major role in following up on the conditions of all their states, accompanied by a number of government department officials and members of the municipal council in each state. They visited various damaged sites and directions were given to repair them.
Efforts of the North Batinah Municipality
The municipalities of North Al Batinah, from the Wilayat of Suwaiq to the Wilayat of Shinas, continue their efforts to open roads, remove silt and dust, and withdraw accumulated water, with the aim of facilitating traffic movement and ensuring the safety of road users. Efforts are focused on removing dust and mud and transporting waste resulting from the flow of valleys, as well as filling potholes to secure roads. This contributed to the opening of all public roads and a number of internal roads, in addition to opening of a number of mountain roads that were affected by rainfall.
Volunteer efforts
Sports and cultural clubs, civil teams, charitable and volunteer teams, and volunteers from the local community in the North Al Batinah Governorate continue their great efforts to stand by their affected brothers in the Wilayats of Suwaiq, Saham, Sohar, and Shinas, where food supplies, water, and all cleaning tools were provided, and they worked hand in hand in cleaning mosques and homes. Oman is proud of the combined efforts of its citizens who brought happiness on the faces of those affected, and stood by the side of their brothers in such a difficult situation.
