Muscat: Majlis Ash’shura hosted Engineer Said bin Hamoud al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, at its fifth ordinary meeting of the third annual session (2021-2022) held here, on Monday.
The meeting discussed two requests for discussion on the strategic road projects and road projects. The members of Majlis Ash’shura held an elaborate discussion on the reasons for delaying road projects as some of these projects were delayed by more than 3 years behind the scheduled timeframe. They also discussed the topic of higher-than-estimated cost of the strategic road projects and the repeated demands for revising the technical specifications of roads.
The members of Majlis Ash’shura raised questions to the Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology regarding the strategic road projects and road projects. The discussions mainly focused on the comparison between the actual and estimated costs of the most prominent strategic projects as well as the figures and value of change orders and their ratio to the estimated cost of the projects. They also raised questions about the actual timeframe for completion of some strategic projects.
In this context, the members of Majlis Ash’shura said that the Al Batinah Expressway whose estimated cost was RO 800 million while the actual cost surpassed RO 1.1 billion with a change rate of 40 per cent. The cost of the change orders of the first and second phases of Al Sharqiyah Expressway, they said amounted to RO 436 million.
The Council members also inquired about the possibility of updating the road guide (standard specifications for the construction of roads and bridges), which is the scientific and technical reference for the construction of roads in the Sultanate of Oman after 12 years of its issuance, especially in light of the recurrence of adverse weather conditions, which led to deterioration of roads despite their modernity. The council members requested to reconsider the designs of roads and bridges especially after cyclone Shaheen. The minister indicated that the restoration of Al Khaboura Road to its former condition costs nearly RO13 million while the cost increases to RO150 million to upgrade its efficiency to withstand adverse weather conditions.
During the meeting, Majlis Ash’shura approved a request for discussion on the mechanism used for disbursing aid and compensation to citizens affected by cyclone Shaheen and a request for a discussion on the timeframe for submitting requests to regulate the use of agricultural lands.
