Shura Office holds meeting

MUSCAT: Office of Majlis Ash’shura reviewed the replies of the Council of Ministers on a number of issues raised by Majlis Ash’shura including the stated desire to postpone the installments of the personal, consumption and housing loans for Omanis. In its reply, the Council of Ministers said that the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), after studying the proposals and regulations, issued directives to the banks and financing institutions to delay the payment of installments and loan interests for the segments that were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic for up to 18 months.

The Office of Majlis Ash’shura held its 26th ordinary meeting of the second annual session (2020-2021), under the chairmanship of Khalid bin Hilal al Maawali, Chairman of Majlis Ash’shura, on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the Office also reviewed a reply to the council’s report about the dismissal of Omani workers in the private sector. In its reply, the government affirmed that it had taken a number of measures in this regard and that the relevant authorities are making constant efforts to address the issue and find suitable solutions.

The Office reviewed the action plans of the standing committees for the third annual session 2021-2022. The standing committees presented detailed reports about their action plans that included their executive programme for each committee.

The Office also reviewed the annual report of the Ministry of Labour for 2020 which included a statistical report about the job opportunities in the private sector according to the economic activity, educational level and the distribution of manpower in the governorates.

The Office reviewed the reply of the minister of labour to a question about the sponsor’s responsibility for workers’ absconding cases. In his reply, the minister said the ministry is going to revise the ministerial decision regarding the absconding cases.

Regarding the oversight tools, the Office reviewed a request for briefing presented to the minister of education with regard to identifying the requirement for teaching staff. The request included an inquiry about the number of applicants for teacher’s jobs who have passed the tests.

The Office also reviewed a request for briefing presented to the minister of energy and minerals on the measures taken to ensure the quality of fuel and the names of companies operating in the mining sector.

The Office also reviewed a request for discussion presented to the minister of education on the incidents of students being forgotten in school buses, and a request for discussion presented to the minister of health on the contract signed with eMushrif technology solutions company and the tasks assigned to the company such as the health isolation system.