THURSDAY July 28, 2016 23 Shawwal 1437 AH
6 085010 120010 FROM THE WORDS OF HIS MAJESTY THE SULTAN
MORNING MINUTE
On the occasion of the 9th National Day, 1979
‘His Majesty’s Wisdom’ Oman will co-operate to the full to ensure the preservation of the peace and freedom of the states and people of the area and to help them resist the forces of oppression.
Founded 1975 . Volume 41 No. 132 | 40 Pages . Baisas 200 . Subscription OMR63 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company | Chairman/Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali | Printed & Published by Muscat Media Group
PERU
HM sends greetings
LABOUR COMPLAINT SITE FLOODED
MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of greetings to President Ollanta Humala of Peru on the occasion of his country’s National Day. In his cable, His Majesty the Sultan has expressed his sincere greetings and best wishes to President Humala and his country’s people. -ONA NEAR MASIRAH ISLAND
Fishermen rescue 17 Indian sailors DEEBA HASAN TARIQ ZIAD AL HAREMI
deeba@timesofoman.com tariqh@timesofoman.com
FAHAD AL GHADANI
fahadnews@timesofoman.com
Once a complaint is registered, the ministry contacts the employer as well as employee to resolve the dispute
MUSCAT: Hundreds of workers, both Omanis and expatriates, have flooded a government online complaints portal in its first weeks of operation. The Ministry of Manpower launched its complaint portal on June 1 and despite it only being accessible in Arabic, 512 people have used it. A further 28 people have re-
INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS
Store web users data for 3 months or pay OMR1,000 fine: TRA Staff Reporter MUSCAT: A maximum OMR1,000 fine shall be imposed by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) for public internet service providers if they do not follow new amendments approved by the TRA. The TRA issued a new decision, No. 48/2016: Issuing Rules Regulating Re-provision of World Wide Web (Internet) Access Service Provision, in which public internet service providers, such as cafes, hotels, airports and internet cafes, are required to save details about users of their internet for up to three months. The decision, which was issued on June 12, 2016, is an amendment to Decision No. 11/2011: Issuing Rules Regulating the World Wide Web (Internet) access service provision in public places, and Decision No. 118/2011 on the conditions and procedures to grant authorisation to offer access to World Wide Web service (Internet) in public places. Re-providers of internet service must store users’ data for three months, according to the decision, and will be fined if they do not comply.
ported abuses they claim to have witnessed at the workplace. That means the site has been averaging 12 complaints a day since it began, ranging from working hours, abuse of the mid-day break scheme and working conditions on sites, according to the ministry’s own data. As of next week, workers will no longer be able to lodge complaints manually, according to the ministry, and an English language version is expected to come TOP THREE INSIDE STORIES
OMAN
Warning on African witch doctor’s visit
1
A man claiming to be a witch doctor who can cure most ills is coming to Oman to cast “spells” for money. The witch doctor has been promoting his love potions online via social media and is encouraging Omanis to contact him. >A4
OMAN
NFC’s ferry service to Iran from today According to the decision, Article 2 states, “The re-provider of World Wide Web (Internet) access service in public places shall register the civil or passport number of the user, indicating time and date of usage. Such registers shall be maintained for at least three months”. Fahad Al Maawali, Assistant IT Manager of Millennium Resort Mussanah, said that the resort’s internet service providers are Ooredoo and Omantel, and they already have information about the hotel’s internet usage,while the resort maintains information about its guests. “When guests check in, we have their personal information, which also goes to the ROP, so they won’t need to input their personal information to activate internet access; only their room number,” said Al Maawali. >A2
Perfect season to visit the southern parts of Oman
2
NFC will launch Khasab – Qeshm route on Thursday, marking the beginning of its operations at the regional level. There will be journeys between Khasab Port in Musandam and Bahman Port in Qeshm Island in Iran. >A6
WORLD
Democratic Party’s nomination for Hillary
3
Hillary Clinton secured the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, coming back from a stinging defeat in her first presidential run in 2008 and surviving a bitter primary fight to become the first woman to get the ticket. >A15
A4
online in the coming weeks. Most of the blue collar workforce in Oman is drawn from the expatriate community. The Indian Embassy in Oman set up a special unit to help Indian expats lodge their grievances via the online portal, using Arabic speakers. An embassy spokesman confirmed the free service was being used by Indians to register complaints about working practices. Indira Mani Pandey, Indian Ambassador to Oman, said, “We
are helping those expats who want to register complaints against their employers when they approach the embassy, but we don’t keep any records to confirm the numbers.” The portal, being run on a trial basis, recorded the complaints and reports between June 1 and July 15. The link is open for all private sector employees through the website of the Ministry and also available in smart phone applications. >A5
SUR: Crew members of a stricken Indian ship which sunk off the coast of Sur have thanked Omani fishermen and coastguards for saving their lives. “We were all very scared, and after the water level rose beyond our control in the dhow, we decided to take out the lifeboat and leave the ship. We were 17 people in total and we had our passports in a single bag, so we definitely had to carry that with us,” said 23-year-old Ashraf Kaleem Ibrahim, captain of the dhow. His 800-tonne cargo vessel sank off the coast of Masirah Island, South East of the Sultanate, on July 22, though its crew was unharmed and rescued by local Omani fishermen. >A4