Oman Tribune reporting improves. Iran blames foreign elements for being dictatorial fascists

Response to my Help Wanted ad has been great. There are still openings, so don't be shy! One position that was filled is that of 'Omani' for the new segment here at Muscat Confidential: 'Ask an Omani'. So, please email me your 'Ask an Omani' questions to undercover(dot)dragon(at)gmail(dot)com

Meanwhile, the Iranian Theocracy tightens their grip, after the Tehran intelligensia got their local version of the Tiananmen square treatment. Reports are coming out of thousands of arrests, including senior opposition leaders, students, journalists, University profs, etc. A protest of a few thousand yesterday were again met with riot police.

...After several days of apparent calm – following the harsh repression of opposition protests - at least 3 thousand people gathered in front of the mosque in Ghoba yesterday. The police charged the crowd with truncheons and tear gas. An elderly woman was beaten and there were clashes between police and young people. ...
Asian News

Some theo-fascist is even calling for many of the opposition supporters to be executed. Nice. It's now pretty easy to see the iron fist that was previously somewhat cloaked in the pseudo-democracy espoused in the Republic. Nice to see the blame being put on foreign elements too, as per usual. Even the shooting of the young woman is being suggested as 'suspicious' by Ahmadinejad and the Iranian media. There is a partial recount of 10%, but apart from a few cosmetic errors the result will be confirmed, nats. Demonisation of the opposition is in full swing.


Iran: Photo of the millions of US, British and Israeli agents all pretending to be Iranian during the protests illegal riots

Lebanon meanwhile got started on the road back to civilisation as they voted for moderate Saad Al Hariri. Great news for the region. Fingers crossed.

Oh, and Michael Jackson, a troubled singer often accused of being a paedophile, died.

Local Supermarket News
Word is - thanks Sythe - we will be getting a Waitrose and Debenhams in Muscat next year, located in the new mall being completed in Al Khuwair. Maybe we'll then be able to buy the rather tasty specialist foods available from Waitrose at reasonable prices, compared to being totally ripped off by Al Fair for these products as we are now.

Oman Tribune: Getting Better?
Is it just me, or has the Oman Tribune been getting a little bolder of late? I think they have also, in just a few years, been able to surpass the bland and occasionally crazy Times of Oman, and the Government controlled Oman Observer ,to the number 1 spot too (they say).



A few days ago the Tribune published the sentencing in court of someone in Nizwa for murder (he deliberately shot someone), and also the tale of the conviction for man slaughter of an electrical engineering supervisor. OK, still no names and no real digging for the sub-story, etc, but the reporting is definitely getting a little better, even if its not yet what I'd call journalism. And today a story on how Shanty Towns are developing around Ruwi. I wish they'd be more explicit on the illegal activity...

Shanty towns on rise
MUSCAT Illegal residential areas are mushrooming around Muscat at an alarming pace.

The shanty towns in Al Hamriya region are now serving as a haven to illegal workers and criminal groups. The localities inhabited by low-income workers are turning into breeding grounds for illegal activities. It is high time that the authorities reviewed the situation and took action.

This menace is not limited to Al Hamriya. Similar shanty residential areas are also found in Ruwi, Matrah, Seeb and Bausher along with the other regions in the Sultanate.

Excellent. Keep it up, The Tribune. Well done Abdul Hamied Al Taie, Editor in Chief.

In this case, the story would be improved by interviews with the shanty town residents, local cops, Municipality comment too would be nice, plus some examination of why it's becoming a problem recently (increased rents for example?), and more photos. But even this is noticeably better IMHO.

Omans largest 2 gas fields dry - according to the MOG?

A really funny story hit the streets today, in both English and Arabic papers: There is no cooking gas in the country. Why? Well, that’s a great question, one the mostly harmless Oman Tribune at least had the balls to ask.

Cooking gas shortage hits local markets

MUSCAT Local markets have been hit by severe gas shortage. The shortage is telling upon the domestic as well as commercial consumers.

Many residents could not get an LPG cylinder when they needed one and had to depend on food from restaurants.

The situation became worse at some restaurants which incurred losses as they could not get LPG cylinder for cooking food.

Wow! That IS a problem. So, why I say, why?

(The actual answer, by the way, is that huge quantities of cooking gas are being smuggled across the border to the UAE, where it's around 8 rials a cylinder, as compared to here where it's just 3 rials (a standard economic effect of subsidy in one country, and demand in another). How one manages to slip 1000s of large steel pressurized cylinders full of highly combustible gas past Oman’s finest customs agents is a question The Tribune couldn’t be bothered to ask, naturally. But read ON!

The authorities said that there was no shortage of cooking gas in the local markets, adding that gas cylinders were available in abundance.

Interestingly, the officials at gas companies admitted to shortage of cooking gas, saying that large quantities of cooking gas were being exported to other countries at higher prices and this had resulted in domestic shortage.

So, there are lots of cylinders, according to the Authorities (empty ones, perhaps?). But wait, one underling from the MOG (not that that was very clear in the report), dared to tell it how it really is. One Mr. Saif Al Salmani, was reported as seeming to think it was, in fact, because Oman's 2 largest gas fields Yibal [mistranslated as Al Jebal] and Saih Rawl [mistranslated as Saih Roul] have run dry. LMAOFOFL. Oh my God!!!! The story continued.

On the other hand, Saif Al Salmani, general manager of petroleum industries, said that cooking gas was available in large quantities and assured the consumers that the shortage was due to Al Jabel Oil Field in Saih Roul turning dry, but the shortage was compensated by the gas produced from the refinery, he added.

Lets face it folks, if those 2 fields have run dry, Oman has got waaaaaay bigger problems than having to use charcoal for a while. That would have been a great scoop for the reporter, if he actually had a few brain cells.

‘Why, really Mr Al Salmani, the 2 largest gas fields in Oman are turning dry! What do the electricity companies who use Yibal gas to power the whole Muscat coast say? When is my air-conditioning going to stop? Oh, and what about the LNG plants that rely on the mighty Saih Rawl? And the export dollars? And the Sohar industries? What will the Majalis ask of the Minister????'

Unfortunately, its not true. The fields are full of gas, in fact, they have (and I’ll use a technical terms here I heard from one of my sources close to the operator) "shit-loads of the stuff". But what do I or they know, compared to an official from the MOG and the great journalistic talent of the Trib (come on down and collect your accolades, reporter of the year …. Mr. Said Al Nabhani)?

I’m still laughing, the report was sooooo funny. I know, its sad that unscrupulous people are flogging all our cooking gas to the UAE to make a buck, but the real stories are so obvious, and yet totally uncommented upon.:
1/ how are gas cylinders getting smuggled out?
2/ why are domestic gas supplies being subsidized?
3/ Are our 2 largest strategic gas fields really running out?
4/ What is the Government proposing to actually do about points 1-3 above?

Oman's press, you gotta love em!

Oman's useless newspapers and the even crappier food we eat

Generally, Oman is served by really, really bad newspapers. The only thing that generally comes close to analysis is carping about the Israelis and the Americans in the vein of 'its not the fault of the Arabs' I don't read Arabic unfortunately, but my Omani friends assure me theArabic ones are also total crap too.

Of all the Omani newspapers, Oman Tribute is definitely the one that occasionally dares to carry stories (like this one below) that point out when the spin of the Government is at odds with the facts.

We need a LOT more of this. Second paper would have to be The Observer, tremendously anti-West it may be. The Times of Oman is almost completely useless, and so far up the establishment’s butt as to be effectively just a propaganda piece for whoever the self-obsessed Editor Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali wants to suck up to. See here for a classic opinion piece on how fantastic the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is.

Tribune Monday 19th
Acute water shortage hits Nizwa
NIZWA Belying the tall claims made by authorities of supplying sufficient quantity of water to the Wilayat of Nizwa, residents are still facing acute water shortage.

Moreover, many wells and Aflaj, which were source of water supply to the locals, have dried up due to intense summer.

For days and weeks, residents get water from the distribution network only for minutes. They have to go to far-flung areas in search of water to do their household work.

The rich can pay the price of water from tankers but the poor cannot and hence suffer a lot due to water shortage as one gallon of water is being sold at RO1.700. The price of water increases further in the interiors if the road to the area is not approachable.

The wilayat was allocated 600,000 gallons of water. But the residents say that the quantity allocated is not enough for the people of the wilayat to meet their day-today household needs.

Oman rated a good betIn other news, thanks to the tremendous boost in oil revenues these past few years enabling Oman to climb out of the debt hole it got into in the late 90s, Oman is also looking good on the financial rating of its Sovereign bonds, effectively the country’s credit rating, scoring an A and putting Oman in the same basket as countries like the UAE, Qatar, Australia and New Zealand, to name a few. You see the whole list here:

And finally under the ‘Last Things Oman Needs More of’ section, another international purveyor of crap food is launching in Oman. Great. Again, it shows how Oman's reporters and editors are so lazy and desperate for cheap copy that they'll print any PR release verbatim.Oman Observer report.

By A Staff Reporter
MUSCAT — Dunkin’ Donuts, one of the world’s largest quick service restaurant companies, continues its rapid expansion and has announced its imminent launch of operations in Oman. Matrah Cold Stores LLC in partnership with the UAE franchisee have formed a joint venture company to manage the Dunkin Donuts brand in Oman. The initial outlets for Dunkin’ Donuts will open in Madinat al Sultan Qaboos, Ghala and at Shatti Cinema. David Rodgers, General Manager of Dunkin Donuts, UAE, said: “Due to the international popularity of the brand and the consumer demands of the rapidly changing environment in Oman, we are excited to have a presence here in the Sultanate, and feel that by partnering with MCS we are arriving in Oman at an excellent time and with MCS’s proven record in Oman we will be able to provide to customers an outstanding brand experience”. The launch has been confirmed for late May with the Dunkin Donuts being produced twice a day in the new purpose built and equipped kitchen in Wadi Kabir that will serve the shops to be established in the Muscat area.

Khalid Dalaty, Operations Manager for Dunkin Donuts Oman, said: “Having experienced a successful recent expansion within the UAE, we are sure Oman will enjoy the presence of Dunkin’ Donuts. News of our entry into Oman has been met with keen interest and we are delighted to offer Omani customers the very same service and quality that Dunkin’ Donuts is renowned for across the world.” Fans of the fast food restaurant chain will find its pleasantly styled and practically designed outlets globally, including in the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, Germany, Spain, Greece, Turkey, the UAE, and the United States. Worldwide, the quick service restaurant company recorded sales of over $4.7 billion in 2007.

Unusually, the launch of the dazzling new Dunkin’ Donuts business is coupled with an insightful partnership in the sphere of 'On demand medical treatment', a first for the Sultanate. Dunkin’ Donuts’ partner in Oman, International Insulin Corp, will be setting up small clinics specializing in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes directly adjacent to the new stores. ‘This will represent a real breakthrough for Oman’s current diabetics, and the many future ones. Oman is already a huge market for our insulin products and proprietary blood sugar testers, but the potential for massive growth is still here. Our partnership with Dunkin’ Donuts will significantly help to boost demand for diabetic treatment in the Sultanate, because while Oman’s youth represent more than half the population many of them have yet to develop diabetes like their parents. People will be able to feast to their pancreas’ content on refined starch, sugar and fat, and then obtain an instant boost of much needed insulin just a few steps away.’

The more observant of my readers may have spotted the last paragraph wasn’t actually printed… I just made that bit up.