Johnson Arabia has completed works for Oman’s largest date processing factory. Based in Nizwa, the complex is being developed by Nakheel Oman Development Company and is designed to receive, store, refrigerate, process, package and distribute vast quantities of locally harvested dates.

As part of this project, ten AWPs consisting of 18m-28m boom lifts and 15m-18m scissor lifts were supplied by the rental company. The equipment was used for the steel structure erection in the early stages and then for fire alarm systems installation and then Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (MEP) works at the end of the project.

In March 2022, Johnson Arabia said that it had taken delivery of 10 JLG Electric Scissor Lifts and, in May, it told Construction Machinery Middle East that it is putting safety first for its end users.

“The site was around 40% complete when we started to send stuff into it so site inspections were done to make sure sizes being requested would be suitable for the job. We also were working with companies we have done a lot of work with, in the past, so we knew they would have qualified operators as using 40m booms in particular can be tricky to operate at that height. At these heights if something goes wrong it can have deadly consequences, so safety is of top priority,” said Sean Kenny, Sales Manager at Johnson Arabia in Oman.

He concluded, “This site was in the freezone and so had quite difficult entry requirements, especially during peak COVID, and they were also ever changing requirements that we had to keep on top of to make sure that not only could our equipment get into the site but so could our service and maintenance teams.”

At the 2022 Construction Machinery Middle East Awards, the company won the award in the ‘Lifting Achievement of the Year’ category.