Shura Council holds regular meeting

Muscat: Majlis Ash’shura held its 16th regular meeting of the third annual session (2021-2022) under the chairmanship of Khalid bin Hilal al Maawali, on Monday.

During the meeting, Salim bin Saleh al Siyabi, representative of the Wilayat of Qurayat, presented an urgent statement regarding tourism projects in Qurayat. The statement emphasized the importance of prioritizing the tourism sector during the upcoming period. The statement inquired about the reasons that delayed the implementation of the tourism projects in Qurayat.

Dr Tahira bint Abdul Khaleq al Lawati delivered an urgent statement regarding the laid-off workers and their reinstatement with lower salaries. She said that this urgent statement comes due to the continuing systematic dismissal of citizens and their reappointment with minimum salaries which poses the threat of imprisonment due to financial obligations and the difficulty of meeting living requirements. The statement added that the inflation rate 2022 amounted to 3.6 per cent by the end of March this year and it continues to go up due to financial conditions. According to the 2019 national survey, the minimum needs of the family amounted to RO 757 per month.

The statement said that this systematic dismissal began in the oil and gas sector and then extended to other sectors for reasons that sometimes seem logical and sometimes flimsy. The statistics indicate that 156 companies laid off national workers during 2021-2022 and the number reached 5,438 or 42.8 per cent in the oil and gas sector, 23.1 per cent in the construction sector and 17.8 per cent in the industrial sector.

The council approved the vision of the Services and Social Development Committee on the draft agreement on regulating air transport services with the government of Brazil.

The meeting approved the report of the Health and Environment Committee on the expressed desire for planning and developing the handling of the environmental damages resulting from adverse weather conditions. The report emphasized the need to reconsider the issue of land distribution in low-lying areas and valley basins and the preparation of certain standards for the construction of houses in coastal areas that qualify them to mitigate in addition to draw up integrated national plans for dealing with the adverse environmental impact resulting from climatic conditions.

The meeting also approved the report of the Health and Environment Committee on the expressed desire for establishing a body concerned with monitoring and protecting the environment.

The meeting approved the report of the Media and Culture Committee on the expressed desire for establishing an interactive digital cultural platform. The committee argued that the proposal is in line with the cultural strategy of Oman Vision 2040.

The meeting also approved the report of the Media and Culture Committee on the expressed desire for establishing public libraries for children in the governorates and electronically developing the existing libraries.

The report of the Food and Water Security Committee was also approved based on the expressed desire regarding the artificial seeding plants in the Sultanate of Oman, which aim to increase the level of groundwater and reduce water deficit in the Sultanate of Oman by boosting rainfall amounts.

The meeting approved the report of the Food and Water Security Committee on the expressed desire regarding the phenomenon of desertification and the efforts of the Sultanate of Oman to combat it. The report stressed the need to conduct a study on the phenomenon due to its direct negative impact on the vegetation cover, which affects agricultural and animal production in general. The committee sought to review the national plan on combating desertification and evaluating its most important outcomes.

Besides, the council discussed the expressed desire regarding the fees for water service connection in light of the opinion of the Services and Social Development Committee which explained that there is an unjustifiable rise in the fees for water connection compared with the fees for connecting electricity service.