The meeting was headed by Sultan Salim Al Habsi, Minister of Finance, Chairman of the Financial and Economic Committee at the Council of Ministers.
A’Suwaiq: The Ministerial Committee tasked with assessing the impacts of the recent tropical cyclone Shaheen/ on citizens’ homes and properties held its third meeting at A’Suwaiq Police Station today.
The meeting was headed by Sultan Salim Al Habsi, Minister of Finance, Chairman of the Financial and Economic Committee at the Council of Ministers.
The members of the committee and heads of sectors at the National Committee for Emergency Management (NCEM) discussed the outcome of field visits and estimates about the damage, the tasks undertaken to enable stricken families to return to their homes and the complementation of infrastructure operations as soon as possible.
The committee valued efforts made to restore electrical power and noted that more than 2,500 electrical poles were installed and a number of generators provided to cover the power shortage.
Within the same context, the committee instructed the governors of North Al Batinah and South Al Batinah to liaise with the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology and the Engineering Services at the Sultan’s Armed Forces (SAF) and the departments concerned for expedient treatment of internal roads by redesigning their engineering configurations and technical specifications to suit tropical conditions and wadi flooding. Those entrusted with the project were advised by the committee to consult studies approved for the Sultanate’s Urban Strategy.
The committee pointed out that some families staying in Relief Centres were shifted this week to temporary residential units and steps are under way to relocate the rest of the families till such time that the damage in their homes is repaired.
The Chairman of the committee stressed the need to speed up the evaluation of citizens’ homes impacted by the tropical condition.
The committee also studied the damage incurred to dams and aflaj and issued instructions to devise a plan for the restoration of the dams. It also gave directives for a study to enlarge the existing recharge dams and protection dams and to set up new ones to alleviate the impacts of similar future tropical conditions.
The committee said that all schools have been restored to their natural status and prepared to receive students, except two schools in North Al Batinah due to the great volume of damage incurred to them.
The Chairman of the Ministerial Committee exhorted the sectors operating under the NCEM and other government establishments to derive lessons from the management of the current crisis to help facilitate their future missions.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the committee expressed its thanks and appreciation for the tasks accomplished by the sectors concerned. It valued efforts made for the gradual restoration of normalcy in response to the Royal directive of His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik.
