Muscat Municipality and Oman’s Housing Ministry working to allocate land for construction of Labour City in capital
Growing demand for labour accommodation to be built outside of residential areas due to COVID-19 threat
Muscat Municipality has said that it is cooperating with Oman’s Housing Ministry to allocate 250,000sqm of land for the construction of a Labour City in the capital for expatriate workers.
According to a report by Oman Daily Observer, once the land allocation is finalised, the government will then invite bids from the private sector for the construction and management of the facility. However, the report also cited municipal officials who said that due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand is growing to have these facilities outside of residential areas.
They stated that expat bachelor accommodations and camps have raised concerns of further community spread, especially in terms of maintaining isolation and quarantine.
For the moment, authorities from the Ministry of Health and Muscat Municipality have tried to address the issue by intensifying COVID-19 tests amongst this section of society, they added.
A senior Muscat Municipality official said that the majority of members believe that the need for having labour camps outside residential areas has become more important now than ever.
“There is a discussion by the concerned authorities at all levels about the expatriate workers’ accommodation and we seek to reach the stage of establishing worker’s cities outside the residential areas,” he added.
