MUSCAT: Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) stepped up its support for the Omani communities with a range of new social investment commitments in the key areas of health, education, safety and infrastructure.
Among a package of initiatives, PDO is funding vital medical equipment, which will benefit thousands of residents, a new system to provide safe drinking water for a remote village, the refurbishment of school science labs, and an innovative road safety initiative using renewable energy.
PDO unveiled the full list of projects at an official signing ceremony of eight Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with community leaders at its Knowledge World complex on Thursday. The event was attended by guest of honour Saud bin Salim al Balushi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Education for Educational Planning and Human Resources Development.
Raoul Restucci, PDO Managing Director said: “PDO is committed to supporting Omani communities with targeted social investment to address specific needs.
“These latest MoUs will bring direct benefits to a number of people and good causes across the Sultanate and show that, notwithstanding the challenging economic environment, we are staying the course on our corporate social responsibility programme.”
PDO is funding the replacement of outdated echocardiography equipment for the regional hospital in the Wilayat of Ibri, where heart failure is the third highest in the Sultanate, with two state-of-the-art machines. The new machines will support the early diagnosis and treatment of approximately 2,400 cardiac cases per year.
The company will also supply wilayats of Haima and Al Jazir hospitals, which serve a joint population of 17,000 residents, with specialist medical apparatus, which will replace outdated or unavailable equipment in various departments including general laboratory, dental, maternity, ophthalmology, paediatrics and radiology.
Additionally, the company is supplying two new ambulances to the hospitals to help enhance their response time to health emergencies, including traffic accidents, which numbered 300 in their catchment area in 2016 alone.
Another project involves the funding of solar-powered lighting on the approaches for Al Mafraq roundabout in the Wilayat Al Jazir, a key traffic hub linking most major routes in South of the Sultanate.
— ONA
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