Muscat International Airport MC3 awarded for RO 706 Million

Finally, after a Tender process of nearly 2 entire years, today the Tender board awarded the airport building contract (MC3) for RO 706 Million to the Contractor Bechtel. So here's a new logo to get used to seeing when driving past the airport:
What is strange about the award is that Bechtel were the most expensive of the three final Tenderers for the MC3 package, behind consortium's lead by CCC and J&P.

Now, I happen to currently be reading a book called "Confessions of an economic hitman" in which Bechtel are specifically being named as being a favoured Contractor with the US AID and similar aid organizations. Well worth a read if you have the time! Funnily enough, click here to see Bechtel's work in Iraq - the Client..... USAID!

Timing is a funny thing, sometimes. I wonder why Bechtel were awarded the job, when they were the highest of the three final tenderers? Technical expertise?

le fin.

British & Commonwealth Citizens oppurtunity to see The Queen

For those that have not received the email, I've published it in it's entirety here:

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh will visit Oman on 25-28 November 2010, at the invitation of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of The Sultan's reign and the strong relationship between Oman and the United Kingdom. There are two opportunities for members of the British and Commonwealth community to experience the visit (other events by invitation only). The attached letter explains what they are and how you can participate.

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HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN’S STATE VISIT TO OMAN, NOVEMBER 2010

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh will visit Oman on 25-28 November 2010, at the invitation of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, to celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of The Sultan’s reign and the strong relationship between Oman and the United Kingdom. The British Embassy would like as many members of the British and Commonwealth community as possible to have the opportunity to participate in the visit.

With this in mind, we have agreed with our Omani hosts that the public will have access to two events:

The Official Welcome: An opportunity to line the route as Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh drive past on their way to be greeted by His Majesty The Sultan at the start of the official programme. This will mean standing by the side of the road for around an hour and a half;

The Horse Show: The Sultan’s horses and some of the best horsemen and women in the country will perform for Their Majesties for just over an hour. All members of the audience will be seated, but will need to be in place for at least an hour before the show begins. The show will take place in the afternoon.

Both events are outside and will involve protracted waiting times, so may not be appropriate for very young children or those with special needs. For security reasons, we are not able to confirm precise timings or locations at this stage.

Since space is limited – 200 tickets for the Official Welcome and 300 for the Horse Show – we will hold a lottery to decide who gets a ticket. In order to give as many people as possible the chance to participate, please only specify attendance at one event or the other, not both.

If you wish to enter the lottery, please send the form below (click here for the form) to the Embassy’s Consular Section by fax: 2460 9011 or by email: muscat.consular@fco.gov.uk, by 14:30 on Monday 25 October.

Those successful in the lottery will be notified by email on Wednesday 27 October and will be given further details about the event they will participate in next month.

Noel Guckian

Dr Noel Guckian OBE

Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman

le fin.

Oman tourist visa price hiked from RO 6 to RO 20

Well it had to happen, and congratulations to Muscat Daily for covering it (coincidentally, when are they ever going to get around to making a website?) on their front page today.

Tourist Visit Visa's have been hiked from RO 6 to RO 20. A pretty sharp increase in the visa charge, but in line with the charges being levied by the UAE. Of course those carrying passports on the magic list don't have to pay the visa charges in the UAE, but will now have to pay RO 20 instead of previously RO 6 when coming to Oman now.

It'd be interesting to see the revenues generated from the visa fee. What do you lot think about the increase in fees?

le fin.

Craic Attack

Tonight at 8pm, the latest in the Craic Attack series gets under way. Tickets are a rather reasonable RO 12, and get there early to get a good seat - it's first come first serve.

You can get tickets from Al Fair, or call 9555 5699 for more information.

Have a great weekend everyone!

le fin.

local news round up

It's been a busy week, and we're only half way!

A couple of news stories I've meant to comment on recently are bunched together here.

Firstly, the tragic story of an Indian citizen left waiting for her embassy to come to her aid at Muscat International Airport. For those of you that have not yet heard about this story (picked up by the Gulf News on the 10th), which broke last Sunday (8th October), you could be forgiven: it was not covered in the local press. (But it was picked up by local blogger English Girl in Oman).

The key points of this story are as follows:

The Indian citizen was working in Muscat as a housemaid for her Omani sponsor. After just 2 months of work, the housemaid was sent home to India by the sponsor due to ill-health. It is evident that this woman had some serious health issues, and was no doubt ill. She lost her passport somewhere in Qatar when changing planes to continue on to her home in Chennai. Because she lost her passport, she was sent back to her port of origin, Muscat. With no passport, ROP immigration could not grant this woman entrance back into the country and thus she became stranded at the airport. The Indian embassy here in Muscat was notified of the situation within hours of the event occurring, but failed to send anyone to assist this person. Even the ROP contacted the Indian embassy but still no one from the embassy could be bothered to come and see this poor woman.

Perhaps this is what the Indian Embassy staff get up to...

After 5 days of being stranded in the airport, the woman had a seizure and died. When the Indian Ambassador Anil Wadwha was questioned as to what happened, he cited "procedural delays". What a bunch of incompetent, lazy and clearly lying people. To further rub salt in the wound, check out Issue #397 of The Week. Anil Wadwha is photographed 3 times at separate events in the "in town" photo section of the paper. It is disgraceful.

Next up: Her Majesty the Queen has formally published her travel dates. On November 25th, Oman will host The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh until the 28th of November. I should imagine that the roads will be closed a lot!



The UAE is getting a 2 day (1 night) stop-in from The Queen on her way to Oman before hand.

The much-delayed Muscat Expressway is on track to be opened on the 18th November to mark the nations 40th National day. I dare say it will be far from complete, but it will certainly help ease traffic congestion on the Sultan Qaboos highway and 18th November street during rush hour, as well as no doubt aiding the traffic nightmare that is Ghala. Additionally, the road from Amerat to Bousher (or is it Al Khuwair?) is nearing completion and will also be opening soon.

And finally, in a "Did you know" section... The ROP maintain a fairly comprehensive website, where among many other services, they allow you to check to see if you have incurred any driving fines. Click here for the website, you'll need your drivers license number, and your numberplate. You can even choose to pay these fines online should you wish.

And a little history lesson for you all. The ROP's took over vehicle licensing duties and responsibilities on the 4th September 1970...... from the Muscat & Muttrah Municipality.

Thats all for today.

le fin.

Breaking news! AIO is BACK!

I had to do a double-take at my rss reader, but yes, finally, it seems that she is back.

Angry in Oman has reopened her blog!

le fin.

McDonalds

I hope you all had a nice weekend, I know I did!

I returned from vacation a few weeks ago, and was mildly surprised to discover that McDonalds here has started selling breakfasts. Quite how a Sausage McMuffin works here, I'm not sure (I'm assuming it's a beef patty) but I did sneak in a hash-brown during a moment of weakness. It was lovely, I do have a soft spot for those hash-browns.

Over the weekend I received an email from a friend linking me to a rather amusing story:

Click the link and watch the video on the page.... This person bought a Happy Meal and left it on her coffee table for 6 months, in New York, including the summer. Incredibly, the fries, burger and bun did not deteriorate or grow any mould. She took a picture of it every day for 6 months and made a video cataloguing her findings. I guess the news from this is that you can take up to 6 months to finish your Happy Meal!

McDonalds felt so strongly about this story that they actually released an official response to the story that stated that their burgers get mould too. Of course they would. I personally felt for sure the bun would get mouldy, but.... watch for yourself. I wouldnt be surprised if we start to see vacuum packed Happy Meals for sale next to Twinkies at gas stations soon!

More soon!

le fin.