An Omanisation model for others...

The Ministry of Labour has signed an agreement with the Oman Society for Petroleum Services (Opal) to hire fuel station managers in the wilayats of the Sultanate. This move will generate 650 job opportunities.

At the same time, this initiative will again bring the responsibilities of the government organisations regarding Omanisation into light. Under this agreement, there will be cooperation between them for hiring Omanis for these positions.

It is the prime responsibility of the government to help achieve the objective. This agreement is an example of how the government can help in the accomplishment of the cause of Omanisation particularly with those who deal with it. Replacement, localisation or Omanisation, whatever you name it, is the issue which needs solution.

In this regard, the responsibility and the role of the government and the administration is bigger than any other organisation. When the employment has come directly under the umbrella of the state, its responsibilities have multiplied and spiralled.

We expect that the experiment Opal and the Ministry of Labour has done with this agreement will be fruitful and will set as an example for others to follow. This is what many of us in the country aspired to do in both public and private sectors. There is no doubt that Opal has presented a decent model. It shows that it has complete realisation of its responsibility as one of the civil society organisations which actively contributes to the efforts of Omanisation.

There have been some previous similar initiatives in the area of oil and gas. These efforts were successful in the localisation of many job opportunities. Now the state agencies should come up with similar initiatives, present serious proposals and innovative ideas. It is necessary that there is collaboration and cooperation in all these efforts.

All organisations in the country, from both public and private sectors, should come forward with one spirit to achieve these common legitimate expectations and aspirations.

In previous years, the Ministry of Labour has made certain experiments on the ground. But it required more cooperation from various organisations and institutions. There have always been complains that some are not equally enthused with these ideas. Therefore, the matter remained as it is without any major achievement or progress in the area. If there would not be continuous cooperation among all government organisations there would be no ambiguity in day-to-day affairs in this area, all efforts would bear fruits.

For example, the Ministry of Health should come up with its own ideas regarding medical jobs which can be Omanised, including private health sector.

In the area of education, naturally the responsibility is of the Ministry of Education. Ministry of Housing has its role in the engineering and other real estate jobs. There are many organisations which are linked with government institutions for direct or indirect employment. They can also work on ideas to recruit more Omanis. There can always be incentive to ensure continued cooperation with government agencies.

Nobody can deny the fact that many organisations even accept people working in different professions than what is mentioned in the identity cards. For example, you will see that sometime a computer technician’s profession in his card will be shown as a cleaner. Due to such practices, coordination between organisations concerned and collaboration of efforts are hindered. There are certain organisations which cooperate in the efforts to achieve the objective of Omanisation. But it is not complete and wholehearted. This is because their endeavours are aborted by others. Opal has set an example for government organisations to follow. They can present their ideas for hiring citizens to replace expatriates. This will be a major help in the process of Omanisation.

Ali Al Matani

ali.matani2@gmail.com