Muscat: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning unveiled a plan to establish a cooperative housing system which is aimed at attracting and regulating housing assistance provided by charitable and public organizations and social responsibility sectors at the private sector as well as citizens willing to contribute, and bringing them under one umbrella.
The unified system is expected to enhance the role of the cooperative and charitable sector as well as reduce reliance on the government in implementing social housing programmes.
The ministry has devised a clear-cut plan which began with formulating a work team comprising specialists from the ministry and related sectors. The team is tasked with laying down the system’s general principles. The ministry will endeavour to spread the concept of cooperative housing among the charitable and public organizations and the other stakeholders. Besides, the ministry will devise the legal framework and the organizational structure of the system with the participation of specialists from various public and charitable sectors. The general frameworks of the system will be approved by the concerned authorities.
Among the government’s most prominent social housing programmes is the housing assistance programme which targets to provide assistance to low-income families whose monthly income does not exceed RO 300 as well as the social security families. A non-refundable housing assistance grant not exceeding RO 25,000 is provided once to targeted families to help them build a new house as well as renovate or add facilities to an existing house.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning plans to grant 3,600 housing assistance in this year including 878 housing assistance to the tune of RO 21,950,000 currently under process form the 2020 budget. This is in addition to another 2,800 cases at a value of RO 70 million which are expected to be finalized in the current year.
This year the ministry strives to implement 141 residential units at a cost of RO 6 million from this year’s budget as part of the residential units programme which aims to provide and construct residential complexes comprising all the public service facilities for low-income citizens.
In addition, in case of availability of financial allocations, the ministry plans to construct 26 residential units in Sarij township in the Wilayat of Jaalan Bani Bu Ali in South Al Sharqiyah Governorate as well as 9 residential units in the Niyabat of Tiwi, 51 residential units in Wadi Bani Khalid, 30 residential units in Musandam Governorate and 25 in Al Buraimi Governorate.
Text by Ohood al Jailaniyah
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
