ROP helicopters assist A Police Coastguard training centre and a coastguard station have been built

in emergency search
at Port Sultan Qaboos.
and rescue cases

Road safety
The Directorate-General of Traffic is working closely with the Sultanate’s other
authorities to reduce the level of traffic accidents and the losses to life and property
resulting from them. Traffic accidents are an international problem requiring the
highest possible degree of co-operation between the countries of the region and
beyond.
On 31st March 2008 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution
on the world road safety crisis which the Sultanate introduced in collaboration
with the Russian Federation. Previously, in 2004, the UN General Assembly had
unanimously approved an Omani initiative calling for international co-operation
to prevent road accidents.
The Sultanate took part in the First International Road Safety Week organised
by the United Nations in May 2007 and in 2010 it is due to host the ‘International
Conference on Road Safety’. In February 2007 it hosted the 6th Meeting on Road
Safety at the Traffic Safety Institute, which was attended by experts from 60 states.
The Sultanate won five prizes for road safety in 2005 and 2006 – in 2005 from
the Indian Institute for Traffic Education and in 2006 from the First Traffic Safety
Festival, which the United Nations held in Geneva in April of that year. Some
36 countries were represented at the event, though only three of them were Arab
states. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
(ESCWA) hailed the Royal Oman Police (ROP)’s efforts to enforce traffic safety
procedures in its October 2006 report.

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 The ROP has introduced a new system to simplify procedures for dealing with Women take their turn
on duty as road traffic
minor road accidents, which is designed to minimise congestion and inconvenience
patrol officers
to accident victims. Following its success in the Governorate of Muscat, on 1st
March 2008 it was extended to the rest of the country. Women’s police traffic patrols
have also been introduced; in the first phase these are limited to the Governorate
of Muscat. A modern, well equipped Traffic Services building staffed by trained
Omani nationals has now been opened and its licensing and vehicle registration
services are open to the public round the clock.
Work has been completed on the automatic vehicle inspection centre project,
which is having a positive impact in reducing traffic accidents and improving road
safety. This project, which comprises 14 inspection centres or stations in different
parts of the country, carries out regular vehicle checks and investigates accidents
using modern computerised equipment and computer programmes that conform to
the highest international standards.

First aid and Civil Defence services

In response to His Majesty the Sultan’s instructions, over the next five years the
Royal Oman Police (ROP) is expanding its Ambulance Service to cover every area
of the country. First aid posts being set up are staffed with trained nationals and
equipped with state-of-the-art ambulances. Currently the Ambulance Service has
Additional ROP
16 centres covering the Governorate of Muscat and the main highways between
officers are allocated
the Batinah Region and the Governorate of Dhofar. Of its 16 first aid centres along to the Dhofar region to
the route, eight are in the governorate of Dhofar, while the other eight are located assist citizens during
near the worst accident black spots. The number of centres is scheduled to increase the Salalah Khareef
with each stage of the expansion project until they cover every wilayat by 2012. Festival

108 OMAN
OMAN 109
110 OMAN
A mobile hospital
provides medical Meanwhile, a fully equipped mobile hospital will provide medical care and
treatment wherever its travel to wherever its services are required.
services are required The exceptional climatic conditions resulting from cyclone Gonu, that hit the
Sultanate in June 2007, highlighted the need for a more streamlined Civil Defence
service and modern equipment including state-of-the-art fire engines. Therefore,
new Civil Defence posts have now been set up in the wilayats of Shinas in the
Batinah Region and Sumail in the Dakhiliyah Region. A Directorate-General of
Civil Defence building is currently under construction.

Emergency Response Centre

With regard to airport security, the Emergency Response Centre is undergoing
an expansion and modernisation programme, in line with international standards
for aircraft accident management operations centres. The system for issuing
permits at Muscat International and Salalah Airports has been automated and
modern inspection equipments put in place.

Courteous and firm

While making every effort to improve the services it provides for Omani
citizens, foreign residents, tourists and visitors, the Royal Oman Police’s top
priority is law enforcement. By adopting an approach that is both courteous and
firm, it has succeeded in gaining the trust and goodwill of the general public, with
Regular training and positive consequences for the country and all those within its borders.
up-dating courses
are essential for ROP
personnel

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