OUTLOOK — By Ali Al Habsi — In some wilayats the industrial estates are located few metres away from residential areas, although Oman is blessed with huge deserts expanding as far as the eye can see. This is all because of random planning and the wrong distribution of lands.
Al Buraimi industrial estate is a living example of faulty planning with many families opting to desert the area adjacent to the industrial area due to the dust and noise caused by heavy machines. The Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi occupies a vast area and there is no reason why the industrial area should be built close to the houses. The planners could have found many locations more suitable than the current one to construct the industrial area away from the industrial area. But they opted to build it only few metres from the houses. This is an indication of random planning and bad distribution of activities.
There should be co-ordination between the relevant authorities in the matter of distributing land plots allocated for industrial purposes in such a way that workshops of welders, carpenters, mechanics, etc., are grouped together so that customers access these workshops easily.
In the Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi the workshops occupy a location in the heart of the residential neighbourhoods and more workshops are given permits in the same area. This situation has created countless health and environmental problems in these areas.
The relevant authorities have to work on a solution to this problem. The industrial estates should be activated and activities must be distributed in a proper manner. To guarantee that these workshops move from the residential areas to the industrial areas the latter should be furnished with adequate services. By so doing the workshop owners will have no reason to stay in residential areas. This is an important step without which the authorities concerned cannot issue warnings to workshop owners to vacate their current locations.
Why do we still show favouritism in allowing workshops to operate inside the residential areas? Some workshops were ordered to move from neighbourhoods while others are still working.
The industrial areas promise a good future for the stabilisation of the country’s industry, they will open great opportunities and revive the economy.
