no longer an environmentalist's safe haven

Back in the old days - well, my old days, anyway - when Oman was still unknown to the world and it was called back then as the safe haven of all environmental breeds like the animals, birds, trees and even insects, it was hard to even think about how one day we would ruin our own country with our own two hands.

And this day, has unfortunately come to reality.

The growing demand for tourism to the Sultanate of Oman has blinded the fact that we are country that are out on a double mission; preserving the environment as well providing the economy with the amount of money needed for it's necessary growth.

And unfortunately, tourism - as an industry - needs the full co-operation of all the country's major industries pulled together in order to create a good opportunity for it to grow steadily. Something which, Oman as a new contender into the game, is pain-stain-kingly only beginning to fathom.

For Oman to build itself a proper base that can withstand the demand for future tourism into the country, it is having to sacrifice a great deal in order to attract the number of foreigners and regional visitors by building more roads, establishing more tourism spots, creating more hotel rooms, giving off lands to big multinationals to draw up their gigantic projects that will draw up millions of Omani Rials in the future to come.

But what is the role of the people behind these organizations besides making their beloved green bills grow and grow so that they can only make more? None Governmental Organizations such as the Environment Society Oman were given permission to be established by the government to create awareness to environmental factors that affect our country in all manners and types. But to what end? Is creating awareness really the solution to such problems with such an organization like the Ministry of Tourism holding the peer in hand to lead the industry really going to create a difference should there be an environmental concern in any project or area in the Sultanate of Oman that is under environmental threat?

The answer is no.

Mainly because the ESO is not given the right to intervene into any project that could hundreds, if not thousands of jobs opportunities and a load of wealth to the local economy.

So what is the point then of such an organization?

In my opinion, there is no such benefit other than having to teach yourself of the pros and cons of anything environmental of which was, is, and should it ever be there in the times to come. Something that should definitely reconsidered very seriously especially after such unions have been allowed to carry out duties to unfairly treated parties in the private sector.

Should the environment receive less of a treatment after what it has been through especially with the detoriating situation that our one and only planet that we inhabit is going through of late?

Such projects that are creating environmental threats are the new tourism projects in Ras Al Had, where there is an environmental sanctuary for the turtles. The new Al-Hoota Cave that has been recently established by the Ministry of Tourism in co-operation with an Arab tourism development company. Beaches are slowly fading away in Muscat because Muscat Municipality wants to develop those fronts for tourism development projects such as The Wave - Muscat, and The Blue City project and the new hotel spot in the Al-Ashkhara area. And with more underway, there is no doubt that we will have lost in no time at all everything that this country has worked so hard to preserve through our entire lifetime.

Something must be done.

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Links:

- Ministry of Tourism

- Environment Society Oman

- Promo-Oman LLC (company responsible for Al Hoota Cave)

- Muscat Muncipality

- The Wave project, Muscat

- The Blue City, Oman