Arabian Oryx Sanctuary stripped of WHS status; labourers stranded after cyclone
Today's Oman Tribune announced that India's Red Fort, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia had been admitted to Unesco's list of World Heritage Sites at the annual meeting of the body held in New Zealand this year.
What the article did not mention is that Oman is the first country to have a World Heritage Site deleted from the list since UNESCO's Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage came into force in 1972. The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Al Wusta is to be removed.
Poaching and environmental degradation have reduced the number of Arabian Oryx there from 450 to 65 since 1996, with only four breeding pairs, according to a press release from Unesco.
The World Heritage Committee considered that the decision by the Oman authorities to reduce the size of the reserve by 90% to allow for hydrocarbon exploration was in "contravention of the Operational Guidelines of the Convention. This was seen by the Committee as destroying the outstanding universal value of the site which was inscribed in 1994."
Given the rapid decline in numbers of the Arabian Oryx within the last ten years, it could hardly have been claimed that the animals were being protected. The reserve has also been home to two other endangered species, the Arabian Gazelle and the Houbara Bustard.
Another story in the news today is of the plight of over 1,000 Indians and almost 400 Nepalis who have been stranded in Oman following the departure of their employment company. The Chinese Sino Hydro Corporation in Oman, which had been working on an irrigation project, left the country when Muscat Municipality refused both to pay for work done and to give the company more time to clear the mud residue left after the cyclone.
While the Indian authorities have begun to step in to assist its nationals, it's claimed that the Nepalis had been brought to Oman directly and illegally by the Chinese company, in contravention of Nepal's labour laws that require the recruiting agency to sign an agreement with the Nepal government.
Agents of the company are said to have told the labourers to look for work elsewhere in Oman, which they can't do because they don't have the paperwork.
The Nepali authorities contend that they have no knowledge of the matter, since they have no mission in Oman, and they have received no report from the embassy in Saudi Arabia which overlooks Nepalis in Gulf countries without a mission.
Let's hope these guys can get home soon.
What the article did not mention is that Oman is the first country to have a World Heritage Site deleted from the list since UNESCO's Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage came into force in 1972. The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Al Wusta is to be removed.
Poaching and environmental degradation have reduced the number of Arabian Oryx there from 450 to 65 since 1996, with only four breeding pairs, according to a press release from Unesco.
The World Heritage Committee considered that the decision by the Oman authorities to reduce the size of the reserve by 90% to allow for hydrocarbon exploration was in "contravention of the Operational Guidelines of the Convention. This was seen by the Committee as destroying the outstanding universal value of the site which was inscribed in 1994."
Given the rapid decline in numbers of the Arabian Oryx within the last ten years, it could hardly have been claimed that the animals were being protected. The reserve has also been home to two other endangered species, the Arabian Gazelle and the Houbara Bustard.
Another story in the news today is of the plight of over 1,000 Indians and almost 400 Nepalis who have been stranded in Oman following the departure of their employment company. The Chinese Sino Hydro Corporation in Oman, which had been working on an irrigation project, left the country when Muscat Municipality refused both to pay for work done and to give the company more time to clear the mud residue left after the cyclone.
While the Indian authorities have begun to step in to assist its nationals, it's claimed that the Nepalis had been brought to Oman directly and illegally by the Chinese company, in contravention of Nepal's labour laws that require the recruiting agency to sign an agreement with the Nepal government.
Agents of the company are said to have told the labourers to look for work elsewhere in Oman, which they can't do because they don't have the paperwork.
The Nepali authorities contend that they have no knowledge of the matter, since they have no mission in Oman, and they have received no report from the embassy in Saudi Arabia which overlooks Nepalis in Gulf countries without a mission.
Let's hope these guys can get home soon.
