The ancient village of Muttrah will receive a major facelift which will bring in a comprehensive transformation to the living conditions as well as the tourism attractions and the way business is done here.
Various architectural plans to be implemented as part of the Muttrah Master Plan project envisages a modern city along with traditional houses and heritage sites intact which will attract visitors from across the world.
At a high-level meeting held at the ‘Muttrah Sabla’ by the Office of the Muttrah Wali and attended by Sayyid Saud bin Hilal al Busaidy, Minister of State and Governor of Muscat, and Ahmed bin Hilal al Busaidy, Wali of Muttrah and Chairman of the Committee of Municipal Affairs, members of the Majlis Ash’shura, Municipal Council, representatives from Muttrah and shaikhs, dignitaries and the people along with a number of officials, the Muscat Municipality reviewed the initial overall design of the project to modernise the city of Muttrah.
The multi-million ‘Muttrah Infrastructure Integration and Redevelopment Project’ focuses on raising the efficiency of health and environmental services and expand the current necessary services including public transport, telecom, storm water drainage and other services and provide ample parking space in the area.
Roads to and from this area too will be widened, while the entry and exit points will be developed to receive more visitors to the ancient Muttrah Souq.
“The Muttrah city plan which is in the initial design stage, focuses on several key areas and the major focus will be to elevate the living conditions of the people here, and this project is part of the development of urban planning,” Tayeb bin Mohammed al Harthy, Director of Technical Studies Department at Muscat Municipality and Director of the Muttrah Infrastructure Integration and Redevelopment project, said.
“Substantial attention to nature and environment preservation has been given in the making of this project which is in line with the plan to develop the city by constructing an integrated system of road networks and other infrastructure networks and highlight the landscape of the city by developing public facilities and ensuring the rehabilitation and distribution of residential and commercial areas,” he added.
According to town planners, a gargantuan effort is under way to preserve the historical and cultural identity of the city and the heritage status of the souq and to preserve the ancient and cultural character of the city which traces back to centuries and they will be kept unchanged. Alongside, efforts to revive the traditional arts and crafts of Omani culture are in place.
Oman’s unique natural setting of vast mountains too will be kept untouched and substantial attention to balance between city development and environmental protection is duly paid to. At the same time, efforts to pull in more international visitors to support Oman tourism is made in line with the transformation of the Sultan Qaboos Port to a fully tourist-centric gateway, the engineers added.
Yet another area of attention was the creativity and innovation which are focused on balancing sustainability in the development and sufficient attention will be paid to maintaining the glorious past of the city and provide a new environmentally friendly way of life such as reducing the use of cars, encouraging the practice of walking and the use of alternative energy techniques such as solar towers for cooling technology and turn the city into an artistic arena of historic relics. During the two-day meeting which runs through today, visual presentation and explanation of all the objectives of this project, which included the main objectives of the project to raise the level of services provided and the rehabilitation of housing and surrounding walkways was also made.
Source: OmanObserver