Muscat: The Indian millionaire businessman who started his professional career in the Sultanate, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Al Rahma Association of Motherhood and Childhood in Muscat to contribute RO9.6 million to build 300 homes for orphans and needy families over the ten years.
PNC Menon, the chairman of Sobha Group, a real estate developer in UAE and India, signed the MoU with Sana Abdulrahman al Khanjari, chairwoman of Al Rahma Association of Motherhood and Childhood Welfare.
Menon who had decided to devote half of his wealth to charitable causes began his entrepreneurial journey in Oman, designing and building palaces, royal facilities, and mosques, including the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, and he and his family were granted Omani citizenship in 1995 by late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.
Speaking to the Observer, Menon said, “The project may take less than ten years, maybe even five. I choose Oman because it created me, and my career and my entire young age were spent here. Apart from housing, food, and education are the most important necessities.”
Al Rahma Association seeks to provide a better life for orphans and underprivileged families registered with it, by implementing the SAS project which aims to provide suitable housing for them. The project was launched on December 12, 2022, and involved cooperation with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning to provide land for those who do not have a suitable home, as well as for those who live in rented accommodation or in old and dilapidated houses. The project aims to help the target group by establishing integrated housing complexes (where land is available), or by building separate houses for those who will be given land or for those who own unconstructed land or a dilapidated house. The building area for each dwelling will be 200 square meters, and the cost of building each house will be around RO35,000.
Menon stated: “Having started my business in Oman in 1976, I have the utmost respect for the country. I have therefore always cherished the idea of making the greatest possible contribution to the nation. I am truly elated to contribute to the construction of 300 homes in Oman over the next ten years for orphans and needy families. Through this initiative, I look forward to providing financial, as well as non-financial support to the less fortunate members of the Omani society and aid them in raising their living standards.”
Sana Abdulrahman AlKhanjari, Chairwoman of Al Rahma Association of Motherhood and Childhood Welfare, stated: “The association sponsors more than 1,600 orphans from various governorates of the Sultanate and around 600 underprivileged families on a monthly basis, in addition to 1,700 families on a seasonal basis (aid is provided to them during Ramadan and holidays).
The association aims, through aid programs provided to the underprivileged, to provide them with a decent life using all available means. Hence, the SAS project was launched to build homes for orphans and needy families registered with the association on December 12, 2022.
Priority in construction is given to the neediest group, and they have been classified as land-owning and landless families.”
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning is now working on completing the procedures for granting lands to the list of families that have been selected by us, as well as those that will be selected to be among the recipients of assistance in building a house for the first phase of the project's life.
Rahma Association of Motherhood and Childhood Welfare offers moral, financial, and in-kind support to underprivileged families and children, in addition to educational and recreational services to encourage academic growth.
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