Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: 13,000 workers tasked with building Oman’s future mega city are being housed in a state-of-the-art facility with supermarkets, leisure facilities, Wi-Fi and restaurants.
Duqm’s own little village houses more than 11,000 expats, providing them with the highest level of comfort away from the area’s tough climate. Renaissance Village provides facilities such as a pharmacy and gyms as well as shops and cafes.
Mohammed Al Hajri, the Operations Manager Renaissance Services SAOG, told Times of Oman, “Our total current capacity is around 17,000 beds. Of these 13,000 are taken and around 1,500 to 2,000 of these are Omani. The rest are expats from 54 different nationalities.”
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Renaissance facilities include two supermarkets owned by Duqm locals, another market for Korean goods, a pharmacy, a football field, as well as a gym and a swimming pool. It also includes seven cafeterias and restaurants.
“Altogether, we are capable of feeding seven thousand workers at once in the cafeterias,” Al Hajri added.
Companies choose to house their employees here because of the lowered costs.
“The lowest tier of rooms costs around OMR4-5 per person, per room, while the highest cost for suites is around OMR12. For companies, this is much more cost-effective than building housing or providing caravans for employees”. According to an official from the Special Economic Zone in Duqm, having relaxed accommodation increases the efficiency of the worker: “Happier workers will mean better productivity, and there is a company in the economic zone that specialises in giving workers that sort of environment.”
The Renaissance village provides living arrangements and packages for employees and has contracts with many companies working in Duqm.
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“We provide living arrangements for the workers of many companies in the area, including construction workers for the refinery, workers from the drydock and Port of Duqm. Our rooms range from Senior Executive En-suites to rooms for 8 people.
“For the rooms with more occupants, we make sure that there is enough space for everyone as per regulations from the authorities,” Al Hajri added.
Workers who live in the complex are happy with their living arrangements.
Nazimur Rahman, who originally comes from Bangladesh but has lived in Oman for most of his life, told Times of Oman, “The complex has tiers for senior and junior employees. The seniors have smaller facilities and a few more options, but there are other facilities on a larger scale for the junior members, so everyone has what they need.
“For example, there is a gym with equipment , chess, Karim, the football field, and refreshment areas,” Rahman added.
“In my free time, I tend to sit and relax with my friends here or use the sports area,” he said, adding that he returns to Muscat and his home in Al Khoudh once a month.
Another worker said that one of the things he enjoyed the most in the area was the variety of food, which ranged from fresh baked breads to rice and vegetarian options for the workers.
