Wednesday, Oct 23, 2013
Muscat: Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed issued a Royal Decree on Tuesday proclaiming Liwa Housing Project a public utility service.
The order stated: “The authorities concerned shall expropriate, through direct implementation, the properties, relevant land needed for the aforesaid project, as well as installations over them, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Utility Expropriation Law.”
The government had last year ordered the relocation of residents of areas affected by Sohar Industrial Port. The project is for the re-building of houses and all alternative service utilities for Ghadhfan, Ghuziel, Hadd, Wadi Al Qasab, Uqdat Al Mawanea, Mukhailif, Hellat Al Shaikh, Hellat Al Hisn and Harmoul areas in Liwa town, about 270km north of Muscat.
Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Wahaibi, Director at the Office of the Minister of Housing, had told government-run Oman News Agency (ONA) earlier this year that the Liwa Housing Project had a number of considerations, including environmental conditions.
Liwa Housing Project, which is directly supervised by Al Wahaibi, is for rehabilitating people affected by the Sohar Industrial Port at Liwa.
“They also include economic factors, such as ensuring the optimum utilisation of the lands in this region,” had said.
According to him several complaints were received from people living in the area due to the growing gas emission rates. In response to the repeated demands by Omanis, an agreement was reached to relocate Omanis from the affected area and provide them with new houses. It was concluded that this is the optimum solution to address the problem.
He pointed out that these projects serve the citizens and the existing and future activities of the region.
The senior Housing Ministry official also said that the project includes the layout of 800 hectares to set up a fully integrated residential complex with the required facilities and services. The net housing rate of the project is 50 per cent of the total size of the area (about 400 hectares). The remainder area will be allocated for public utilities and services, such as roads and areas.
The project will provide 4,000 land plots, each 1,000 square metres, expected to accommodate 30,000 citizens.
The project will be provided with public utilities, including schools, mosques, health centres, public parks and others which will be to world-class standards.
As for the proposed site for the project, he added that the project will be at a governmental area free from personal property. It is 20km away from Sohar.
The selected area meets the environmental standards and in line with the requirements of the citizens. The area will have the public road (Muscat/Shinas) in the east, Al Batinah Express Road and the proposed railway in the west, new Liwa layout in the south and the administrative borders of Liwa in the north.
Staff Report
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
