15 November 2026, 06:01 GMT

Oman owners flag slow land compensation and unclear valuation.

Al Roya reported citizens’ complaints on oman railway land compensation delays and opaque valuation under the public-benefit expropriation law and its 2024 executive rules.

ByOmnia DeskThe Omnia Markets news desk2 min read1 source

واحة صاروج، مدينة السلطان هيثم, عُمان. From the Omnia catalogue

Al Roya reported in Arabic on 15 November 2026 that citizens had raised questions about expropriation and partial land cuts for development projects, citing delayed handling of some cases, unclear valuation methods and whether awards reflect harm to the remaining plot or lost use.

Lawyer Dr Ahmed Al Jahouri told the paper that Basic Statute article 14 protects private property and ties taking to public benefit and fair compensation. He said Royal Decree 71/2023 and ministerial decision 1016/2024 set survey, inspection, valuation, payment and grievance steps, and that fair pay is not limited to the strip taken.

He said residual land must be treated as one unit: if the remainder cannot be used, full-property compensation can apply, with technical reports required under the executive regulation. Article 22 and article 23 set the grievance filing and decision windows, with silence after the decision window counting as refusal. How far current cases meet those timelines was not quantified in the report.

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Our take

Omnia Desk

Compensation process clarity matters more than the decree number.

For anyone holding freehold or long-lease land that a road or utility corridor may cut, the story is about timing and proof, not a rewrite of who may buy. The 2023 law and 2024 regulation already frame survey, residual-use tests and grievance windows; owners still say payouts lag and valuation logic is hard to read. That gap affects cash timing if a plot is sliced, not the foreign freehold map we track on ITC stock.

Foreign buyers weighing Muscat and new-city stock should treat expropriation risk as a title and plan check, not a residency change. Our Oman residency through an Integrated Tourism Complex guide still turns on ITC rules and visas, not railway or road cuts. Catalogue schemes such as Sarooj Oasis and Wadi Zaha sit in planned cities where corridor design is part of the master layout; still verify survey lines and residual access before you rely on a compensation figure.

What does not move is the ownership route itself. Delayed awards do not open new freehold zones or close existing ones. If you already own affected land, keep written grievances and engineering evidence inside the stated windows rather than oral follow-ups alone.