Some thoughts on the protests.

Up until now, I’ve not really commented on the protests that have sprung up all over Oman recently. That’s been partly because I’ve been too busy to take the time to write about it and have just been trying to share information with everyone, and partly because I’ve not really been too sure what to think.

These have truly been significant times here in the Sultanate. And who knows if the major changes are even over yet?

I’ve got a few things I wanted to talk about, and probably will attract some haters, but that’s fine by me. So, in no particular order of significance, just how it comes to my mind….

The riots in Sohar, and the death(s)(?) that occurred. I am going to side with the ROP on this one. Some people have made the comment that the ROP should have been in a higher state of preparedness due to other regional unrest – and yes, perhaps they should have been. Perhaps they already were? It’s not like Sohar was a known hot-bed of antidisestablishmentarians (I cant believe I actually just used that word in a sentence by the way) was it?

The protesters were breeching the peace, pure and simple, and were ultimately breaking the law. There had been damage to public property (street lights broken and a lot of graffiti), and so the ROP quite rightly went in and arrested a bunch of the perpetrators. Now this seemed to upset those that were not arrested, and in a show of solidarity they marched on the ROP station up there in Sohar. Up to this point, ok, I can understand the solidarity and the intentions of the march on the station to get their buddies released from jail. However, at this point, people turned violent, set fire to ROP vehicles, and more importantly, a gas truck – right outside the ROP station. They even started throwing rocks at the police station. Really – what on earth did these people think was going to happen? Did they think the police would come out and say, “Hey you know what? YEAH! We shouldn’t have arrested these people, hey don’t worry about burning down our police station, here’s your people back. Oh, and here, lets sit down and smoke some shisha too. Here at the ROP we’re full of sunshine and rainbows, and like to keep bunny rabbits in our cells”.

The ROP did what they were trained to do in a situation like that – disperse the crowds. They used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, and it worked. It is truly, truly a terrible thing that there was a loss of life (be it 1, 2 or 6), but calling for the resignation of the top guy at the ROP because of it, in my opinion is foolish. In the same vein of thinking, you might as well ask HM to resign because, after all, it was him that had appointed the head of the ROP to that position.

I also noticed that the “looters” of LuLu were not necessarily Omani, or Arab for that matter. I’ve seen a lot of pictures where the people running off with goods from the store were sporting big grins and bicycles fully laden with rice and other things. But that’s another matter.

The Royal Order to create 50,000 jobs. So the question being asked of course, is where are these jobs going to come from? Well as we have seen, the ROP are swelling their ranks and taking on 10,000 extra officers, and numerous other ministries have opened their doors and are posting jobs as well. Let’s not forget that there are a lot of major ITD’s in progress at the moment, and once those hotels, shops and support services are in place, there will be more jobs available then. To my complete surprise, I was amazed to hear people complaining that most of those jobs would be menial labour jobs, and not managerial positions. Of course they will be – everyone can not be a manager, it’s just not how life works. In my personal limited experience of life here (I’ve been living and working here for over 3 and a half years now), I’ve witnessed it twice in the company I work for: a junior Omani staff member joins the company, and within 2 or 3 months proclaims that they want a raise and promotion to a higher position. Yet the sad reality is, in both cases, these people were simply not as good as other expatriate staff at their jobs. Don’t misunderstand me here – there are most definitely extremely competent Omani’s here. Some of the smartest people I’ve met in my working life, I’ve met here and they are Omani. But that is not all, or, and my hand is on my heart here, the majority. It is my experience that these elite, smart and motivated Omanis are a very small minority of the general population.

Someone commented on Muscat Confidential’s blog post this:

Good blog - I am a regular reader.
With regard to this post, most of your ideas are spot on. However, taxes and other disincentives on business, applied broadly, are not the right way.
We are owners of a medium-sized establishment, and we have been here for years. We are earnest in our wish to employ Omani. However, most of them are not educated properly (for reasons you mentioned), plus they want to be managers immediately. Many also have a grudge against expatriate colleagues, even though the expats perform better.
To employ a competitively qualified Omani is expensive (relatively), and they are few and far between. Plus, they prefer to work for large corporations/semi-governmental.
The Omanisation policies have to be modified. Currently, they are like diktats - employ Omanis or else. There is no incentive for companies if they employ Omanis, e.g. lower tax, reduced fees, etc.
As a business owner, I would prefer to hire Omanis over expats, as they cost less in theory (no air ticket, less EOSB, etc.). But in reality, the expat is more productive. Disciplining an Omani is taboo and can land you in trouble with the Ministry (although it is legal to discipline Omani workers).
Just to give you an example: for the 40th national day, we were called by the Ministry of Manpower, and 'persuaded' to grant Omani staff a bonus for the 40th national day. We could have refused, but we would have exposed ourself to bullying by the MoM down the line. An Omani friend of our (business owner) told the MoM to buzz off. He can, because he is Omani.
And yes, many ministers and officials are extremely corrupt. But then again, many govt employees at lower levels need 'greasing' to facilitate things.
I love this country, and it has a lot of potential.

I totally agree with that persons comments. Omanisation is an essential process for the development of this nation – but it needs to go hand-in-hand with better employment laws and conditions for employers. A free market is, after all, what is required to keep the economy going – the government can’t keep up it’s bank-rolling of the state forever. The hydrocarbon dollars will eventually run out.

The dragon’s suggestion of compulsory National Service is a great idea. It’d teach young people some excellent life skills, and hopefully help grant those that serve some experience of life outside of the family, and a different social order to the one they are used to.

The RO 150 per month job seekers allowance. Again, this really needs tweaking to me. There is no personal taxation in this country, and I’d be very surprised if there is much monitoring of individuals income. It’s a problem that is rife in the “West” – benefits fraud. I will bet my hat that there will be people who claim this RO 150 a month, and yet have a job. How is this going to be monitored and controlled? How is it going to be funded eventually? Personal taxation is inevitable in this country. It just simply has to happen sooner or later. People can only have their cake and eat it for so long before they have to pay for it.

And finally, the protesters themselves. Well done – they have achieved some momentous changes within the country. But I’m scratching my head…. Why are they still protesting? To me it seems more of a social thing now. Sohar has a satellite tv projector going, Salalah has food stands and tents, and the only real gathering that I continue to understand is the people at the Majils A Shura who are having a speakers corner (and presumably a few people attempting to present themselves as possible runners for the next election). Just perhaps, maybe, it’s time to call it a day and go home?

le fin.