Highlights on Municipal Council Law

Nawal al Samsamiyah

Muscat: The Municipal Councils Law promulgated by Royal Decree No 126/2020 gives the municipal councils enhanced powers including proposing ways for investing in the governorates’ resources to achieve sustainable development and create job opportunities for the nationals.

As per the law, the municipal councils will be able to propose, change or abolish the municipal fees and ways of collecting them.

The law gives the municipal councils the power to set up regulations and standards of billboards and advertisements and determining the rules for placing signage boards of shops and stores after coordinating with the relevant authorities.

Also, the municipal councils will be able to draw up regulations for monitoring stray animals after coordinating with the relevant authorities, propose regulations for taxis and means of public transport, as well as proposing regulations for managing and organizing markets and cemeteries, slaughterhouses and landfills without prejudice to the remits of the ministry of agriculture, fisheries and water resources regarding the management of fish markets.

The municipal councils will be able to study the draft development plans that fall within the scope of the governorate as well as suggesting development plans for the governorate. The councils may present proposals on the performance of the government’s services units within the governorate, express opinions on the proposed locations for the development, services and economic projects and the urban schemes.

As per the new law, the municipal councils will be authorized to follow up the procedures aimed to prevent and eliminate encroachment on the state’s properties and public utilities such as the wadis and beaches.

The municipal councils, in accordance with the law, will take part in identifying the requirements for public utilities and government services of their respective governorate. They can also devise recommendations regarding the public health and participate with relevant authorities to identify the public interest of the developmental projects as per the conditions set forth by the law of expropriation for the public benefit.

The candidate for the municipal council membership should be a holder of a general education diploma (GED) certificate as a minimum qualification, and should be registered at the electoral register of the wilayat where he/she is nominated, and should not be a member of the State Council of Majlis Ash’shura. The candidate should not be residing or working outside the Sultanate. They should not be affiliates of any military or security bodies.