Well now thats all over, how about some football?

Well, now that things appear to have settled down up the road in Sohar, and the "peace march" that occurred in Ghubra yesterday has been done, it's time to look at something else for a moment.

Rather unfortunately for Oman, the Sohar event took the spotlight away from FIFA's beach football worldcup Asia qualifier round which is taking place up in Mussanah's infamous sports village this week. On Monday night, the Oman side thumped Iraq 11-3 and have now gone through the quarter finals, and will be facing Syria today (this afternoon at 5pm).

The semi finals will be on Thursday, and the Finals on Friday afternoon from 3:45pm. You can get all the information here on www.beachsoccer.com.

 So why not spend the weekend watching a great game and cheering on Oman?

:)

Just for fun, and because I seem to have reported about other fast food joints opening previously... Hardees in Al Khoudh has opened.

Dont forget to enter into the prize draw for 2 free tickets to the 30 Seconds to Mars concert on March 10th.

More soon.

le fin.

An update.

Update: The road border at Wajajah (commonly referred to as the UAE side, Hatta, is currently closed - no road traffic in or out at the moment.

Another Update: The British Ambassador and Vice Consul are travelling to Sohar today to meet members of the British and un-represented Commonwealth community.  Our travel advice remains in effect stating that 'you should maintain a high level of security awareness, particularly in public places. You should avoid large gatherings and demonstrations.'  

Traffic jams are occurring around the Port area and Globe roundabout.  No western interests are being targeted by demonstrators.

If you are in the Sohar area and wish to meet with the British Ambassador and Vice Consul they will be at the Sohar Beach hotel by 18:00 (6pm) tonight. 

Well it seems like there was another night of antics up in Sohar, but nothing on the same scale as before - the picture above is actually from the night before, Sunday night.

Many people have received a text message from the following number: +968 9400 4048. The message is below in both Arabic, and Google Translate's best attempt at English. Note that this is not an official message from the Government and is not to be taken as such. This is just a speculative rumour at this point.

Arabic:
لا يا شباب ندائي لكم جميعا لا تنخدعوا مثلما انخدعت و انخدع غيري بأن المظاهرة في صحار ليست بريئة فهي مدفوعة من الخارج و إلا لما يصرون على تقطيع أوصال اقتصادنا باستهداف الميناء و المنطقة الصناعية و قطع الطرق ، الحذر الحذر. نعم نختلف في بعض الأمور مع الحكومة و لكن لا يمكن المساس بالمقومات و إلا سندفع الثمن غاليا، نعم هذه المظاهرة مدفوعة من الإماراتيين، أقول بعض الجهات الرسمية فيها و ليس الشعب، شعب الإمارا يتألم ما يحصل في عمان من تخريب

English:
No, my appeal to all of you young people do not be fooled just as deceived and deceived others that the demonstration in Sohar is not innocent they are paid from abroad and only to insist on the dismemberment of our economy by targeting the port and industrial area and cut off roads, so beware. Yes we disagree on some things with the government, but can not be jeopardizing and only pay the price dearly, Yes, this demonstration was driven from UAE, I would say some of the official and not the people, the people of Ar suffer what is happening in Amman from sabotage


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An Anonymous commenter (at 8:35pm last night) on the previous blog post, they described their journey from Dubai to Muscat via Hatta, its well worth a read, I've pasted it here:
Anonymous said...

I returned to Oman from the UAE (via the Hatta border) and came through Shinas roundabout at exactly 12noon today (monday). I really had to ring around when I was in the UAE to see if I could make it back safe with my wife and two toddlers in the car. We were very concerned, but HAD to get back to Muscat ASAP, so we made the decision to proceed. Speaking to a car dealership representative in Sohar, he suggested I get to the Safeer well before the Globe, and hook left at that roundabout, run parallel to the highway and get back on just before the Sohar gate.

As we entered Shinas, the roundabout was on fire - tyres in a pile being burnt in two spots.
 
What we were not prepared for was the roundabout before the Safeer! The road leading to the port was blocked, and all entry and exits into the R/A were blocked by trucks (with bricks chocking their tyres). There were at least 500 people, most wearing balaclavas and head scarfs shielding their faces/identities. It was extremely frightening. They tried to stop us, and we ploughed through. I managed to squeeze past a hilux that was blocking the entry, and drove straight up to a truck blocking our exit. I mounted the curb to exit the roundabout on the sidewalk, heading towards muscat.
 
There was ABSOLUTELY NO police presence ANYWHERE! We got to the Safeer, hooked into the inside road, and Military were everywhere - especially in front of the ministry buildings behind the university. All of the petrol stations were closing, but we managed to refuel with a black-smoke-belching Lulu in the near distance.
 
Once we made it onto the highway (near the Sohar gate) at approximately 1:30pm we saw at least 50 armoured vehicles traveling from Muscat towards Sohar. No police, just military. Fire trucks, water trucks - water canons? big guns and about 20 buses with riot police. Then what looked like a delegation and more armoured vehicles. It was endless.
 
We made it back, but their seem to be so many conflicting reports. Some saying stone throwing at expats etc.. All we had was what I described above. We are clearly expats, and we were not attacked. We were, however, very very scared trying to get through to Muscat.
 
There is a serious military presence at the Hatta border.
February 28, 2011 8:35 PM 


However, this morning things seem to be much calmer. There are conflicting reports coming from Sohar this morning, and so it's hard to say what is actually going on. Here are the facts (few at the moment!):

• Regular commuter traffic is virtually non-existent this morning in Sohar.
• It appears that some roundabouts (or just the round about by the Sohar Port) is still blocked.
• Today at 4pm a Pro Sultan parade of support is planned at the Sulatan Qaboos Mosque.
• The Minister of Health, Ahmed Al Saidi, reports only 1 death, un-named hospital workers report 6 deaths.
• It is business as usual here in Muscat so far.

I'd like to comment on something now.... The Omani Rial is pegged to the US $. As the US $ has been declining in the world market, the cost of consumables has increased, which has increased the cost of living here in Oman through no fault of the Government here. So what $1 could buy 2 years ago, you now need more than $1. This increase is tracked as inflation and we're seeing it reported in the 5-10% range. Something that I've yet to see discussed on any of the news outlets. 


In other news, Oman thrashed Iraq 11-3 in their group match at the FIFA beach soccer World Cup Asia Qualifier - well done boys! Also, if you havent already, please feel free to enter my competition to win 2 free tickets to the 30 Seconds to Mars concert on March 10th.


le fin.

Protests in Oman

Protests are happening at the Majlis A Shura opposite the airport right now. Avoid if possible.

As covered in the Muscat Daily, and by Dhofari Gucci of protests in both Salalah and Sohar. There has also been reports of protests in Sur, but I've not come across anything supporting this yet.

Yesterday, the ROP used tear gas to disperse the crowds at the Globe roundabout in Sohar (next to LuLu supermarket).

The purpose of this post is to help communicate information to people concerned about what is going on. Essentially the key facts so far are these:

• HM Sultan Qaboos has announced this evening : That the Majlis A Shura will have greater powers, The State Audit Institution will have it's role increased, 50,000 job opportunities are to be created by Government, and a monthly amount of RO 150 for registered job seekers with the Ministry of Manpower, the Public Prosecutor is to now be fully independent (Currently the PP reports to the head of the ROP), members from the Majlis will be appointed to State Audit to investigate how they can improve. Some members from the publicly elected Shura in the next session (election) will be selected to become Government ministers.
• Reports ranging from 1-4 people have died from "gunshot" wounds in Sohar.
• ROP (Royal Oman Police) have deployed tear gas and limited use of rubber bullets to try and disperse the crowds.
• The rubber bullets were deployed after protesters set fire to a gas truck  near the ROP station.
• Protesters surrounded the ROP station in Sohar today to demand release of protesters arrested yesterday.
• New reports suggest the ROP station in Sohar and the Wali's house in Sohar have been burned down.
• Protesters are not calling for a regime change, just political reform, an increase in the minimum wage and more assistance with living costs.
• There have been reports of protests starting in Azaiba here in Muscat - but this has not been confirmed yet. 
• There are reports of looting from the Lulu supermarket in Sohar.
• There is a small peaceful gathering outside the Majlis A Shura here in Muscat demanding that force not be used against the protesters in Sohar. 
• Calls for protests here in Muscat and in Nizwa have been made for tomorrow, multiple locations mentioned in Muscat: The airport, Wizarat, Mawehlah.
• Expatriate staff working at the university are currently safe in their accommodation.
• 3 cars were burned in the attack against the Ministry of Manpower building in Sohar.

Reuters, and all other major news outlets are now running with this story in Sohar. The best source of live up to date information is on Twitter with the hashtags: #oman and #sohar.

I'll update this with relevant news when I can, please feel free to share anything relevant in the comments section.

February 28th, 2011 Update:

• Reuters now reporting 6 people dead from protests in Sohar
• Protests continue in Sohar, with planned protests at the Sohar Port.
• Sohar's largest Private employer of Omani's was looted and burned - Lulu 
• It has been identified that there are a core group of people who are causing the damage, most people are peacefully protesting
• Large numbers of people continue to arrive from the North (Shinas and, dare I say it, the UAE?)
• It has been suggested that there are Emiratie's involved in the protests
• The main highway in Sohar has been closed and there are traffic jams on the side streets and beach road  in Sohar
• The British Embassy issued a notice, posted below.

le fin.

Trouble at the airport?

Well, as reported here last October, Bechtel were awarded the MC3 Contract (pictured above) for the main terminal building portion of the airport. However, there appears to be a few problems, as evidenced by the distinct lack of presence of Bechtel working here yet.


And yes, to the nit-pickers, it's a consortium led by Bechtel, including Enka and BEC.

Rumours are flying around that Bechtel are refusing to start work on site until the Contract is officially signed (which makes sense), but that they are making a lot of demands in the Contract and want a lot of concessions. I understand that Bechtel want to change the Contract length, rules about penalties for delay and numerous other elements. I don't know the specifics about this, and I'm sure some of you know more, but from where I'm standing I'm wondering why on earth Bechtel have not mobilized yet - so there must be some truth to these whisperings.

It has even been whispered that the Client (Ministry of Transport & Communication) may have been questioning why they awarded the job to Bechtel. Who really knows? Only a select few I guess.

I wonder what will happen next? Will the package be re-tendered? Will Bechtel get the concessions they demand? Will J&P or CCC have the opportunity to re-commence negotiations?

Time will tell I guess.

le fin.

30 seconds to Mars giveaway: 2 free tickets to a lucky reader!

Once again the kind people at Hi FM have given me 2 free tickets to give-away! I'll be drawing the lucky winner on Wednesday night (2nd March). To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment, or email me at mrsythe *at* gmail.com

Good luck everyone!

EDIT: Don't forget, if you leave a comment, please ensure there is a way for me to contact you in the event that you are the winner!

le fin.

30 seconds to Mars details

The details are finally out. If you are a Nawras Shababiah customer, you can buy a ticket for RO 15 (or RO 35 for VIP). Regular pricing is RO 20 and VIP is RO 40. March 10th from 7:00pm.


You can buy tickets from the following Nawras locations:

MCC, QCC and Azaiba, or you can call 9555 5699 for more information.

le fin

Skerryvore are back

Skerryvore are back then. To quote the blurb:

Blazing bagpipes, fiddle and accordions, electrically fused with funky rhythms and soul-gripping songs, complimented by the soaring vocals of lead singer Alec Dalglish; Skerryvore are an award winning Scottish band creating a ‘Trad-rock’ fusion for the 21st Century.

Skerryvore formed in 2004; from traditional roots the band has developed both in size and sound to create a unique fusion of their traditional music and songs with the urban sounds of rock and funk. With their outstanding musicianship, Skerryvore have gripped audiences across the world and have been the highlight of many big festivals including MagiaCeltica in Italy, Celtic Connections in Scotland, Celtic Crackers in the Netherlands – even a blistering performance at Scotland’s Premier rock festival ‘T in the Park’ in July 2009.

"Six of the best musical ambassadors Scotland could have ever wished for… a living, breathing, 12-legged party waiting to happen." 
 

Door entry fee OMR12.  For further information call 9555 5699.

Enjoy your weekend!

le fin.