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PDO presents 4 social-investment projects

MUSCAT — Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the Sultanate's top exploration and production firm, is presenting four separate social-investment projects to the nation to mark its 40th anniversary.

Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed here yesterday between the company and the government to initiate the schemes, to be carried out in different areas of the country, at a ceremony presided over by Oil and Gas Under-secretary Nasser bin Khamis Al Jashmi. One of the projects provides for a three-fold increase in the capacity of a reverse-osmosis water-treatment plant at Buthayla. The upgraded plant will have a capacity of 100 cubic metres per day of potable water, benefiting half a dozen neighbouring villages around Qarn Alam.

Two MoUs were signed with the Public Authority for Craft Industries (Paci) to support and revive a pair of the Sultanate's traditional handicraft industries. In Dhakhliya, 30 locals will be trained in traditional cotton weaving, thus helping sustain the age-old skills while creating a new sustainable source of income for the community. In the Musandam peninsula, another 20 local people will be trained in the ancient skills of manufacturing al garz sticks - wooden sticks with metal heads originally used as weapons.

This is a dying craft practiced by a few old people who will now be recruited to train a new generation of artisans. Under the fourth MoU, 24 schools in the Dhakhliya, Dhahira, Sharqiya, Muscat, Wusta and Batinah regions will be provided with playground sunshades. "These important social investment projects during our 40th anniversary year reflect PDO's long-standing commitment to support communities throughout Oman," said PDO Managing Director John Malcolm, who signed the MoUs with Mustafa bin Ali bin Abdullatif, Under-secretary for Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Ministry of Education; Said bin Mohammed al Nabhani, Director-general of Water, the Ministry of Housing, Electricity and Water; and Ahmed bin Saleh Al Farsi, Director-general of Planning and Development at Paci.