With RO 26.4mln, 403 families benefit from housing assistance programme in Oman

Muscat: The Council of Minister approved OMR 26.4 million for a housing assistance programme to be implemented in North and South Al Sharqiyah governorates.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning confirmed that the financial allocations recently approved by the Council of Ministers for the housing assistance program, a total of 403 families will benefit from the approved housing aid allocated in the North and South Al Sharqiyah governorates, which helps in reducing registered requests and accelerating the pace of implementation of housing units for eligible families.

The Ministry said that this reinforcement comes within the framework of the broad interest in this vital program according to the social and economic variables, as part of the allocated funds,  will be provided to 255 families affected by adverse weather conditions in the Wilayat of Sur in the Governorate of South A’Sharqiyah in the villages of (Sabakh, Al-Janat, Musalak, and the city of Qalhat), by transferring the people of the affected areas to safe areas and compensated financially, along with providing a residential plot to construct a new house with necessary infrastructure and public services, while the other part of the amount will be allocated to build housing units in remote villages.

In the governorates of North and South Al Sharqiyah, there are 148 housing units, including 11 housing units in the Wilayat of Ja’alan Bani Bu Hasan in the village of Al-Tahayem and remote villages, and 19 housing units in the wilayat of Ja’alan Bani Bu Ali in the village of Al Labida’a, and 54 housing units in the Wilayat of Sur.

19 housing units will be constructed in the Wilayat of Wadi Bani Khalid in the village of (Bawad), in addition to (45) housing units in the Wilayat of Qurayyat in the (Souqah) area, as the housing assistance program seeks to reach the beneficiaries in their original villages, in a way that helps them preserve their traditional occupations and strengthens Social ties, as well as helping them achieve stability in these villages far from city centers.

The Ministry stated that there are 67,570 applications registered with the Ministry, which were reviewed and it became clear that the conditions are met in 24,913 applications, which will reduce the waiting period for the turn, noting that housing assistance is granted to the beneficiaries at the rate of RO 25,000 for families consisting of 2-3 individuals and RO 30,000 for a family consisting of four or more members.