The bridge to Masirah Island
Hard on the heels of Cyclone Phet came the announcement that HM Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said of Oman had approved the building of a 40km bridge between the mainland and the island of Masirah.
My first thought was that the airlift operation to evacuate the island in the path of the cyclone had not worked fast enough. I know from having travelled there by boat, that it's not possible to rely on the ferry services because they need to run at high tide. Treacherous currents operate in the straits, and maybe some inhabitants were trapped on the island during the cyclone. Subsequent reports indicated a general dissatisfaction that the island doesn't get enough tourists, that prices are too high because transport costs are high, ferry services are erratic and that there's no work on the island itself. All of which I have to concede are true.
The cost of the bridge is projected to be US$1.5bn. That's US$125,000 per head of population of 12,000. Has the bridge been in planning for some time, or have the feasibility, engineering and technical studies yet to be done?
Starry-eyed dreams of prosperity need to be counterbalanced by recognition that a bridge alone will not achieve results. More tourists mean that there would need to be more facilities for them. Coaches of tourists still require to be fed and watered in places which have ambience. They are not likely just to be content with visiting beaches and then returning to the mainland.
There will have to be more hotels. What kind of jobs are anticipated to be created? Will the young people of the island be willing to stay there and work in tourist hospitality? But of course, I forget, these will be high net-worth tourists, as per Oman's tourism policy. In coaches?
Beaches on the eastern side of Masirah facing the Indian Ocean are breeding grounds for rare loggerhead and greenback turtles. Any tourism drive to reveal the turtles should at least strive to be eco-friendly. I have seen tourists arrive late in the evening at Ras al Hadd trouping down to the beach to watch the nesting turtles, shining flashlights and using flash photography, before trekking back to wherever they had come from. None of this is conducive to preserving turtle nesting sanctuaries.
Think about it. It takes quite a time for a female turtle to burrow herself into a fairly deep hole in the sand, and then to lay her many eggs and cover them up. By the time she makes it back to the sea, she must be exhausted. If you were a turtle, would you want to be overlooked while laying eggs, and have flashlights shone in your eyes and be banged on the top of your shell, at a time when you are most vulnerable?
How long would the nesting sites last in the face of inconsiderate tourists? And once the nesting places go, what else is there on the island to attract tourists unless you're a bird watcher or geo-tourist? There's always water sports I suppose, providing the seas don't get too rough.
In short, is there a plan for development of Masirah as a whole, other than for building a bridge to the island? No wonder the official from the Ministry of Finance declined to be identified. As one of the longest sea bridges in the world, rivalling the Qatar-Bahrain causeway, it might be a tourist attraction in its own right.
I remember camping on the beach at Masirah with my husband and son just two nights before the millennium. We were quite alone save for a rare vehicle on the coast road. It wasn't the time of year for nesting turtles to visit anyway. I think one of the treasures of my life must be the solitude and space that we experienced there. I wouldn't trade that for the world to share with a busload of tourists.
An afterthought to my previous post. One report stated that houses in the village of Ghaf were flooded when Cyclone Phet passed through, although not as badly as during Cyclone Gonu. Ghaf lies downstream of the new dam on Wadi Dayqah. Did the dam overflow during the cyclone? How are the water levels in the dam holding up, and how much alluvium was brought down into the dam during that period of discharge? Just a thought.
My first thought was that the airlift operation to evacuate the island in the path of the cyclone had not worked fast enough. I know from having travelled there by boat, that it's not possible to rely on the ferry services because they need to run at high tide. Treacherous currents operate in the straits, and maybe some inhabitants were trapped on the island during the cyclone. Subsequent reports indicated a general dissatisfaction that the island doesn't get enough tourists, that prices are too high because transport costs are high, ferry services are erratic and that there's no work on the island itself. All of which I have to concede are true.
The cost of the bridge is projected to be US$1.5bn. That's US$125,000 per head of population of 12,000. Has the bridge been in planning for some time, or have the feasibility, engineering and technical studies yet to be done?
Starry-eyed dreams of prosperity need to be counterbalanced by recognition that a bridge alone will not achieve results. More tourists mean that there would need to be more facilities for them. Coaches of tourists still require to be fed and watered in places which have ambience. They are not likely just to be content with visiting beaches and then returning to the mainland.
There will have to be more hotels. What kind of jobs are anticipated to be created? Will the young people of the island be willing to stay there and work in tourist hospitality? But of course, I forget, these will be high net-worth tourists, as per Oman's tourism policy. In coaches?
Beaches on the eastern side of Masirah facing the Indian Ocean are breeding grounds for rare loggerhead and greenback turtles. Any tourism drive to reveal the turtles should at least strive to be eco-friendly. I have seen tourists arrive late in the evening at Ras al Hadd trouping down to the beach to watch the nesting turtles, shining flashlights and using flash photography, before trekking back to wherever they had come from. None of this is conducive to preserving turtle nesting sanctuaries.
Think about it. It takes quite a time for a female turtle to burrow herself into a fairly deep hole in the sand, and then to lay her many eggs and cover them up. By the time she makes it back to the sea, she must be exhausted. If you were a turtle, would you want to be overlooked while laying eggs, and have flashlights shone in your eyes and be banged on the top of your shell, at a time when you are most vulnerable?
How long would the nesting sites last in the face of inconsiderate tourists? And once the nesting places go, what else is there on the island to attract tourists unless you're a bird watcher or geo-tourist? There's always water sports I suppose, providing the seas don't get too rough.
In short, is there a plan for development of Masirah as a whole, other than for building a bridge to the island? No wonder the official from the Ministry of Finance declined to be identified. As one of the longest sea bridges in the world, rivalling the Qatar-Bahrain causeway, it might be a tourist attraction in its own right.
I remember camping on the beach at Masirah with my husband and son just two nights before the millennium. We were quite alone save for a rare vehicle on the coast road. It wasn't the time of year for nesting turtles to visit anyway. I think one of the treasures of my life must be the solitude and space that we experienced there. I wouldn't trade that for the world to share with a busload of tourists.
An afterthought to my previous post. One report stated that houses in the village of Ghaf were flooded when Cyclone Phet passed through, although not as badly as during Cyclone Gonu. Ghaf lies downstream of the new dam on Wadi Dayqah. Did the dam overflow during the cyclone? How are the water levels in the dam holding up, and how much alluvium was brought down into the dam during that period of discharge? Just a thought.
Comments
Blue_Chi wrote:
07/26/10 10:38:37
newsbriefs wrote:
Thanks for that Riyadh. It certainly isn't reported as just a feasibility study in the English language press. Arab News, publishing a syndicated report from Reuters quoted an unnamed official from the Ministry of Finance as saying, "The tender process will be open to international bidders and start early next year for the construction of the bridge"
A feasibility study makes infinitely more sense. Thanks very much for alerting us to that.
07/26/10 10:59:56
Hi Sue, I think the English media got it wrong, HM ordered conducting a feasibility study for constructing the bridge - there are no official statements for actually building it.