Arab Housing Day celebrated
MUSCAT: The Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Housing, celebrated the Arab Housing Day on Wednesday. The day was celebrated under the motto of “Private Sector Social Responsibility in Supporting Affordable Social Housing”. In addition to that, the Ministry of Housing honoured Oman’s real estate developers and supporting entities for social housing programmes provided by the Ministry.
HE Sheikh Saif bin Mohammed Al-Shabibi, minister of Housing, sponsored the ceremony and the event was also attended by the president of the International Federation of Arab Real Estate Agents, the world president of the International Real Estate Federation and a number of prominent figures in the world of Omani real estate.
The ceremony included presentations on the efforts exerted by the Ministry in cooperation with the private sector entities in supporting social housing. It also honoured participating bodies and a group of real estate developers and companies for their contributions to social responsibility, in the area of social housing and real estate development.
On this occasion, the minister of Housing said that the Sultanate is joining other Arab countries to celebrate the Arab Housing Day, which falls on the first Monday of October. This year the motto was - ‘Private Sector Social Responsibility in Supporting Affordable Social Housing’.
He asserted that such PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) contributes to providing modern housing suitable for low-income and social security groups.
“The celebration of this day gives us an opportunity to review what the Ministry has achieved in this area and the extent of private sector contribution in social responsibility. This contribution has evolved from direct support to social housing programs for low-income people to another form of partnership, namely the construction of integrated housing units and complexes in an effort to provide suitable solutions for alternative housing as a commitment of the private sector to this social partnership,” added the Minister.
The Arab Housing Day ceremony included presentations on the efforts of the Directorate General for Real Estate Development at the Ministry of Housing, as well as the efforts of private sector entities in providing and supporting affordable housing.
Engineer Siham bint Ahmed Al-Harthy, director general of Real Estate Development at the Ministry of Housing, said that housing is one of the basic services like education and health.
“The government, represented by the Ministry of Housing, has developed many programs to ensure adequate and suitable housing for social security and low-income cases. This included building houses or granting interest-free loans to eligible citizens.
“All citizens, both male and female, have the right to a residential plot, but the pace of plot distribution has exceeded that of the provision of services and thus it was necessary to introduce new alternatives to provide housing for the rest of society segments,” Al-Harthy said.