Oman's Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning has awarded RO1-billion ($2.58 billion) contracts for the development of Phase One of its mega project – Sultan Haitham City (SHC) – in Muscat.

Spanning an area of 5 million sq m, Phase One of Sultan Haitham City project will feature more than 7,000 residential units that can accommodate 39,000 people. The construction area is more than 3 million sq m, reported Oman News Agency.

This phase will include the establishment of a central park, along the wadi, on an area of more than 1 million sq m, the National Centre for Women and Children’s Health, a referral hospital, the buildings of Oman Medical Specialty Board, the Higher Institute of Health Sciences and Oman Health College on an area of 1 million sq m and a government university, to be set up on an area of more than 299,000 sq m, and the College of Advanced Technology (which will accommodate 1,500 students and cover an area of more than 14,000 sq m), it stated.

It will also house a youth centre on an area of 20,000 sq m, a Rehabilitation Centre for People with Special Needs (on an area of more than 4,000 sq m), a complex of government schools that accommodate more than 6,900 students (over an area of 135,000 sq m), an international private school (on an area of more than 33,000 sq m), a police station on an area of more than 10,000 sq m, a civil defence centre on an area of more than 8,000 sq m, a national centre for craft industries on an area of 10,000 sq m and four health centres on an area of more than 63,000 sq m, it added.

More than 35 development and partnership agreements were inked last month at The Royal Opera House by the ministry with major players in the engineering, consulting services and real estate development sectors as part of its Phase One development works which will be completed in 2030.

These included nine consultancy service contracts, eight real estate development agreements, a technical co-operation agreement and 10 new site design and delivery agreements.