Jusoor Foundation has completed the maintenance of Al Dhuwaiqa Falaj in Wadi Al Jizi area in the Wilayat of Suhar, which is a project funded by OQ within the cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources.
Costing nearly RO 25,000, this project is part of the commitment of OQ to social responsibility through Jusoor Foundation, the social investment arm of Sohar Aluminium, Vale Oman and OQ companies. The falaj is expected to serve citizens residing in the area of Hail Dhuwaiqa in Wadi Al Jizi through providing them with groundwater for their farms and animals. Maintenance of the Falaj will enhance the added-value through preparing it to be a tourist attraction and through the preservation of Oman’s attractions and heritage.
Al Dhuwaiqa Falaj is categorised as a ‘ghaili falaj’, which refers to the type of falajes that is fed through ponds and running water. Measuring 880 metres long and locating 5 km away from the highway, this falaj is the water source on which people depend to irrigate their crops and for their other daily uses.
The maintenance work included the construction of an 800m-long open-air water distribution canal. This process required the removal of the old canal, deeper digging and expansion especially near mountainous surfaces.
This was followed by cementing the bottom of the canal and constructing a 5-metre fly-over.
Saif al Shibli, Supervisor of Al Dhuwaiqa Falaj, said, “This project is of great importance to the people who rely heavily on this historic falaj in many aspects of their life, in addition to their connection to it.
Therefore, this maintenance will revive the falaj and enable the best utilisation of its water and will certainly preserve it as part of the Omani heritage and one of the beautiful tourist attractions in Wadi Al Jizi area.”
It is worth mentioning that the social investment funded by the founding companies of Jusoor for the maintenance projects for the various falajes in North Al Batina Governorate reached RO 188,000, which included maintenance works for 5 ‘ghaili’ and ‘dawoodi’ falajes.
These projects included the reconstruction of old water canals and the construction of new ones with fly-overs in order to sustain the genuine water heritage of the Sultanate.
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