Muscat – Thirty-nine teams from across Oman are coming together to honour Saeed Hamdan al Muqimi, who took it upon himself to supervise the construction of a road connecting two villages in North and South Sharqiyah.

Construction of the landmark road project connecting Wadi Bani Khalid in North Sharqiyah governorate and Tiwi in South Sharqiyah, will cut the distance between the two by 200km.

The 8km road is expected to change the fortune of the nearby villages and boost tourism by reducing travel time between the two tourist places, besides reducing the time to reach Wadi Bani Khalid from Muscat.

The teams, which joined hands, will celebrate the official opening of the road on Friday.

Speaking to Muscat Daily, Eng Saleh Saeed al Habsi, CEO of Quick Challenge Company (QCC), said that more than 200 people from 39 volunteer teams from various parts of the sultanate will launch a charity campaign to honour Muqimi and open the road.

“Muqimi has single-handedly supervised the construction of the road to connect the two villages across the two governorates. He purchased an excavator with the money he received from a grant he was awarded from the Sultan Qaboos Award for Voluntary Work for the project.”

Habsi, who is supervising the initiative, has high praise for Muqimi, who took it upon himself to provide relief to people in the mountains by shortening the distance between the two villages. “He successfully constructed the road that connects Halut village in Tiwi to Al Oud village in Wadi Bani Khalid.”

Elaborating on the planned programme, Habsi informed that the volunteers will gather on Thursday and stay overnight in Wadi Bani Khalid at the starting point of the road.

“On Friday morning, they will start on foot to cover the 8km road to reach Al Oud village to celebrate the occasion.”

The volunteers will take part in several activities during the day, such as planting wild trees to increase the green cover and setting up of cement barriers to strengthen the road. They will also build a resting place for hikers and adventure enthusiasts.

“We will provide water, snacks, juices and first aid kits to the participants,” Habsi said.

At the end of the day, the teams will honour Muqimi for his achievement.

“We will continue to run our charitable initiatives to spread the culture of volunteering among the members of the society,” said Habsi.

The man behind the project said he started constructing the road as people were finding it difficult to travel from one village to the other.

“It was not easy, but with determination and the support of the Oman India Fertiliser Company (OMIFCO), I completed the road. I thank the volunteers who planned to celebrate the opening of the road. I urge people to participate in voluntary works wherever possible.”