Salalah motorists can soon make a stop for rest

Muscat, Jan 12 - The government plans to develop rest areas for truck drivers and other motorists on the 1,000-km road that links Muscat with Salalah in the south.
Logistics provider Asyad has invited bids to design, build, finance, operate and transfer of truck rest areas in Adam, Haima, Thamrait, with facilities to be spread over nearly 70,000 sqm in each of these locations.
The last date for receiving tender documents is January 16 and last date for submitting bids March 13.
The project will have mandatory facilities such as truck parking, public toilets and shower facilities, truck maintenance and repair, mosque and fuel station. It may include value-added facilities such as driver’s accommodation, dining facilities, clinic and pharmacy, commercial building for retail and businesses, office space (for project support only) or other facilities which the developer may deem fit without compromising the scale and quality of mandatory facilities.
Such facilities are expected to encourage motorists to take short breaks, especially during night trips, and prevent accidents.
In its request for proposal (RFP), Asyad says Oman has over 64,000 registered trucks, a large number of which come from neighbouring countries. “Despite the large number of trucks on its roads, parking infrastructure is significantly underdeveloped, which often leads to illegal parking, traffic congestion, unsafe traffic conditions, public safety and environmental concerns in various industrial and urban areas in Oman,” the report said.

Asyad has sought proposals from eligible private sector developers for the development of truck rest areas and related facilities in Adam, Haima and Thumrait through a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) development model, including master planning, design, build, finance, operation and maintenance of the facility (project) for a period of 25 years.
The project revenue to the developer shall comprise user fee, lease rentals from occupants of commercial buildings (banks, insurance companies, etc) and advertisement income. Except for parking and mosque, fee may be charged by the developer from the users for availing of the services/facilities, the RFP said.