With aims to support Dubai Municipality’s ‘Green Roofs’ Campaign, aswaaq  has allocated spaces in its centres in Al Mizhar, Mirdif, Al Warqa’a, Umm Suqeim to showcase models of green-roof buildings. The models will be displayed to visitors along with informative brochures and fliers that explain the benefits, long term effects and the steps to change a building’s roof into an astonishing garden. The campaign, which will run for a period of one month, will continue for a second month in aswaaq Nad Al Hamar community centre, aswaaq Al Sufouh Supermarket and aswaaq Al Rigga Supermarket.

Commenting on aswaaq’s support to the campaign, Hind Al Falasi, Relations Manager at aswaaq said:” As part of our CSR initiatives and our support to major environmental preserving steps, we are very keen on being part of the municipality’s campaign to promote the ‘Green Roofs’ concept. We believe that such a project will contribute effectively in preserving UAE’s environment and limiting heat emissions, and thus we feel it is our role as UAE company to ensure the highest support to the campaign.”

Farhan Al Marzouki, Head of Marketing at Dubai Municipality, said: “We are looking forward to spread the concept in different areas in Dubai and ensure that people understand the importance of ‘Green Roofs’ in preserving our environments. We would like to extend our thanks to aswaaq and other companies for their continuous support and unmatched care for the country’s environment.”

The ‘Green Roofs’ concept is launched by Dubai Municipality in collaboration with reputable companies in agricultural technologies and an extensive support from various shopping centres and supermarkets in Dubai. Dubai Municipality plans on showcasing the models in different areas in Dubai during a one year campaign with aims to educate the residents on the importance of ‘Green Roofs’. The informative brochures and guides have been finalized and include all the needed information, steps and licensing terms plus an overall view on the plant and soil types that can be used to change a building’s roof into a beautiful garden.

-END-

About aswaaq

“aswaaq” is an LLC company owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai. About aswaaqThe “aswaaq” project is a new, innovative concept in the world of shopping and retail, based on small, medium and large-sized shopping centres strategically located at the heart of residential areas. These centres will have lively “aswaaq” supermarkets at their heart complemented by retail shops and will soon become available in all bustling and populated areas of the UAE, providing a wide range of products that meet the requirements of all shoppers regardless of their nationality or age.

Most recently, aswaaq has announced that its supermarkets in Nad Al Hamar and Al Mizhar hav been awarded the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification. The supermarkets were awarded HACCP for their approach to food safety, food handling, storage, processing and display of food items, and are now recognized as the first supermarkets in the GCC to receive the HACCP certification.

The “aswaaq” shopping experience is uniquely defined by the high-quality tailor-made assortments and fresh products offered at fair prices with friendly, consistent and efficient customer service. “aswaaq” is particularly proud of the values upon which it bases its practices, respecting its clientele’s freedom of choice, focusing on applying the best international practices, not to mention contributing to the pioneering task of institutions supporting medium-sized and small projects in the UAE. By becoming a major source of products, goods and services, “aswaaq” will play a vital role in local neighbourhoods; providing investment opportunities for UAE entrepreneurs, as well as creating job prospects. Moreover, it will also provide UAE nationals with the opportunity to become major importers and suppliers.

“aswaaq” will also give back to society by setting aside a certain percentage of the net profit for social and community services.

For further information, please contact:

Hind Al Falasi

Relations Manager – aswaaq

Direct: +971 4 4234030

Email: hind.alfalasi@aswaaq.ae

Maan Dalghan

PR Account Manager - O2 Public Relations

Mobile: +971 0504735351

Phone: +971 43122777

Fax: +971 43122788

Email: maan.d@o2pr.net

Dubai, February 25th, 2008

Dubai Municipality presented Ducab, the leading manufacturer of high quality power cables in the Middle East, with a Work Place Safety Award at the second honoring ceremony of its Public Health Department held at the Rashidiya Hall, Al Bustan Rotana Hotel Dubai.

The “Safety at Work Place” award recognizes companies that provide a safe working environment and strive to minimize the impact of their activities on the environment.

Commenting on the certificate of appreciation and engraved glass award presented by Engineer Hussein Nasir Lootah, Dubai Municipality’s Acting Director General, Mr. Andrew Shaw, Ducab’s Managing Director said: “We are delighted to have been presented with this award. It shows our commitment towards our personnel’s safety and recognizes our ongoing efforts. We promise to ensure the continued well being of our staff and hope other organisation will follow suit.”

“At Ducab, we take safety procedures very seriously. It is of utmost importance that rules and regulations are adhered to throughout our operations to ensure the complete safety of our employees” added Shaw. Ducab’s Health and Safety management system is certified to latest version of OHSAS 18001. Also we have been wining occupational health and safety award from RoSPA (The Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents, UK) for last 17 years consecutively.

Engineer Hussein Nasir Lootah opened the ceremony by stating the importance of Dubai Municipality’s mission to build bridges between corporations by providing its services facilitating these to work together as partners. He expressed the appreciation of the Government and Dubai Municipality towards the companies present and thanked them for their efforts. He concluded by saying that he hoped other companies organisations and institutions would follow their lead.

Following the key speech, the winners from all seven categories took the stage to personally receive their awards. The categories included Grade “A” Establishments, Our Customers, e-Services customers, Distinguished Establishment, Best Labour Accommodations, Safety At Work Place, and Distinguished Suppliers.

Established in 1979, Ducab is the leading cable manufacturing company in the region and is equally owned by the Government of Dubai and Government of Abu Dhabi. Its product range covers low voltage power cables, control and auxiliary cables, wiring and lead-sheathed cables, Ducab Powerplus medium voltage cables (up to 33kV) and Ducab Smokemaster, low smoke and fume cables. In addition, it supplies Ducab Connect cable components and accessories.

Dubai Municipality’s Public Health Department aims to preserve and enhance public health through the prevention of diseases, ensuring food safety, effectiveness of pest control using competent manpower and implementing advanced techniques hand in hand with its partners.

Dubai, February 11, 2008

The two-day Euro-Arab Cities Forum, which was held under the theme “New dialogue for development,” during 10 -11 February 2008 at Madinat Jumeirah concluded with the participants reiterating their determination to pursue the dialogue as the basis for a more peaceful world with a strong local self – government.

The Forum, held under the patronage of the Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Municipality, was attended by a number of mayors and representatives of European and Arab cities, associations of local authorities, international institutions and non-governmental organizations.

The Forum, which reaffirmed its commitment to promote and develop Euro-Arab municipal cooperation and dialogue, held different sessions on a number of vital issues such as Local governance, Public transport and city planning, Innovation and exchange of best practices, Environment and water, Financial instruments to support partnership projects, Culture, heritage and tourism.

Obeid Salem Al Shamsi, Assistant Director General of Dubai Municipality for Administrative and General Services Affairs and Head of the Implementation Committee, said the Forum was aimed at the developing communities and adopting best practices and expertise, as well as providing assistance and support for upgrading standards of good local governance, life and services to the citizens.

The Forum, which was a platform for improving partnership relations among European and Arab cities, decided that it in an Arab and European city alternatively.

The Dubai Declaration released at the end of the event said the Forum recognizes the necessity of exerting further efforts for conserving the environment and realizing balance between the economic social and environmental dimension, taking into account other issues indispensable for sustainable development of our cities.

It also pointed out the necessity of finding integrated solutions for public transportation and of exchanging experiences and projects in the field of the urban planning.

The Forum decided to work closely together to identify the means and structures to deepen the partnership in the pursuit of these objectives. The delegates expressed their willingness to promote and develop activities in their territories such as exchanges, studies and conferences to achieve a common vision, which is a necessary condition for a stable and peaceful world and a greater socio-economic balance, within which the millennium goals can be achieved, with mutual respect for our cultural, political and religious diversity.

To this end, it was decided to set up a Steering Committee, which is tasked with implementing the Forum recommendations and preparing the next Forum, to be held in a European city in 2011.

The Committee shall be composed of the Congress of the Council of Europe, COPPEM, CEMR, the Arab Towns Organization, the last organizer city and the new hosting city.

The committee will undertake the follow up of the execution of Dubai Declaration recommendations; coordinate between the Arab and European cities for facilitating the exchange of expertise and practices; organize the next Euro-Arab Cities Forum and the meetings between the Euro-Arab cities and encourage partnership among cities, hold workshops and training courses, in addition to taking part in the international and regional forums of cities.

The Forum alse expressed its thanks and appreciation to the City of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates for hosting it, and for their continuous support for such meetings aimed at developing the communities all over the world. It also expressed thanks to the organizations and institutions which contributed in arranging the event such as the Arab Towns Organization (ATO), Euro Mediterranean Partnership of Local and Regional Authorities (COPPEM), Arab Institute for Urban Development (AUDI), Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions.

The concluding day of the event saw three sessions, such as Environment and Water, Financial Instruments and Cultural Heritage.

Dubai, February 10, 2008

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Municipality, inaugurated the two-day Euro-Arab Cities Forum today in Dubai.

The inaugural ceremony, which was held at the Madinat Jumeirah, was attended by a number of dignitaries, including Saeed Al Kindi, Minister of Environment, Dr. Hanif Hassan, Minister of Education, Engineer Hussein Nasser Lootah, Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality, Jasim Mohammed bin Darwish, Director General of UAE Municipalities, Abdul Aziz Al-Adasani, Secretary General of the Arab Towns Organisation and municipality chiefs from a number of Arab and European countries.

In his inaugural address, Sheikh Hamdan welcomed the participants in the forum and conveyed to them greetings from UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, wishing the forum great success.

He expressed the hope that the meeting would come out with positive results which would meet the aspirations of all participating countries. He assured the gathering of the UAE’s unflinching support and commitment to ensure the success of the meeting which seeks to achieve the good interest of brotherly and friendly societies, in accordance with the UAE’s foreign policy and the government’s open door strategy.

Sheikh Hamdan said the geographical location of the Arab world near Europe has made trade and educational activities, as well as interactions between the peoples from the two sides easy. This, he said, is also in view of the nearly identical features of European and Arab societies in many areas, adding that by holding this forum, the UAE wishes to strengthen these areas of similarity, establish real partnership and keep moving on in various areas in view of the existence of many encouraging factors of success.

He said the Arab world and Europe are partners in financial, trade and energy relations which can be boosted further with each side offering what it has in terms of resources - human, mineral or technical resources. He expressed the hope that the forum would spur the sharing of ideas and information on issues of mutual interest and boost the mutual integration drive.

The Dubai deputy Ruler pointed out that the forum was a golden opportunity for discussions and dialogue. He thanked the organisers of the forum and urged the participants to engage in “positive dialogue that would produce recommendations, which would serve the interest of our towns and communities.”

Soon after Sheikh Hamdan’s address, a documentary film on the phases of development of Dubai city was shown. The film highlighted some mega projects in Dubai, including the Burj Dubai, the Palm Island, the World, the Burj Al Arab Hotel and many others, which manifested the vision of the country’s leadership and the daily follow-up of these developments by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum flanked by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince.

Khalid Mahmoud Alloush, UNDP Representative in the Gulf region, who also addressed the gathering, stressed on the need to give great attention to towns and cities in the light of great population rise in the world. He said the current population of the world is estimated at about 6.7 billion people, half of which are urban dwellers. He said by the year 2030, urban population will rise to about five billion people, about 80% of them in developing countries.

He pointed out that cities around the world are suffering from many problems, particularly in the areas of environment, poverty, insufficient water and land. He said there is the need for concerted efforts to find solutions to urban problems, adding that UN organisations in-charge of population development are calling for cooperation among governments to improve the administration of towns and improve the life of urban dwellers.

He cited a recommendation issued by the International Conference on Population and Development, which was held in 1994 and subsequent conferences and forums, which urged governments to boost their capabilities and deal efficiently with urban problems by involving the people in planning for their communities.

He said reports show that about 12% of urban dwellers have no access to portable water or good sewerage system. He urged the towns to tap the experience of each other in the area of judicious use of scant resources like water.

The address of the Arab League Secretary General, Amr Moussa was delivered by Mohammed Al-Khamleishi, Arab League Assistant Secretary General and Head of Information and Telecommunications Sector. He said the forum is working to achieve development and progress for Arab and European towns and to boost cooperation among these towns, away from any political influence which continues to be the bane of many political and non-political organisations.

“This forum is being held at a time when the world is witnessing an amazingly rapid move towards achieving cooperation among countries to establish various forms of economic integration and to share experience and expertise,” he said.

“In view of the above, the Euro-Arab Cities Forum, particularly, needs to closely study the phase it is currently going through, which, to us, represents a major turning point which would impact on the general development and modernisation process in the region - I mean the phase of democratic development which, first and foremost, means the right of the people to participate in the decision-making process and to contribute to the implementation of those decisions with all playing their part according to their capability and field of specialization,” he added.

He pointed out that the success achieved by the Emirate of Dubai, through Dubai Municipality – in terms of development prosperity for its inhabitants of all nationalities is a solid evidence of the great development efforts exerted on the various segments of the people, and not by limiting those efforts to the administrative leadership segment alone.

“We are currently at the threshold of the twenty first century where the world is witnessing a major structural transformation, having ushered in the new world order, a system which is beginning to show its real features - a mixture of risks and hopes,” he stated.

“Although the polarisation of the world into two direct or indirect antagonising groupings is no more, the world continues to struggle to get rid of tension, conflicts and arms race. This has painted a gloomy picture of the future living condition in the Third World a situation which demands from the Euro-Arab Cities Forum the stepping-up dialogue among member countries in order to create an atmosphere of togetherness and cooperation among their peoples and promote positive reactions among their various factions and segments in order to turn their disagreement to agreement to help them achieve integration at the towns level,” he added.

He admitted that relations between Arabs and Europe had gone through some difficulties in the past, particularly on the Mediterranean basin, it has also witnessed periods of fruitful cooperation for their mutual interest. “The conference that we are holding today is part of the cooperation between Arab and European towns. This is nothing strange as it represents a continuation of the cooperation drive that had existed among the peoples of these towns. It is also in line with the Barcelona Declaration of 1995, which represents an important step towards enhancing relations among European and Mediterranean countries with the aim of building a foundation for a new form of Arab-Europe relations that would rise high to the level of real participation that aims at boosting peace and development within the framework of mutual respect,” he noted

He pointed out that the Arab League continues to be one of the major keen supporters of Euro-Mediterranean partnership since it was established. He said his outfit continues to actively participate in all conferences and forums that aim at boosting further this partnership

“I want to reiterate here that the existing cooperation between the Arab Towns Organisation and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions is a great success. This is evident in the forum we are holding here today with the active participation of town mayors, heads of municipalities and local government councils, who are in-charge of running the affairs of the local and regional councils, districts and institutions that play very important roles in achieving prosperity and stability for the inhabitants of those towns and translate into action all plans and programmes for their mutual interest.”

The Arab League Secretary General wished the meeting great success. He expressed the hope that relations between Arab and European towns would grow stronger and stronger “so that together we achieve peace, security, stability, progress and prosperity for Arab and European peoples.”

Halfdan Skadar, chairman of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at the Council of Europe, who delivered an address on behalf of European towns, expressed profound gratitude to the UAE, in general and Dubai, in particular, for hosting the forum. He stressed on the importance of dialogue between Arab and European towns and for establishing of real partnership between them for their mutual interest.

The representatives of environment societies from the UAE, Syria and France made presentations about their environmental aspirations. They called for judicious use and conservation of water.

The two day forum is being organised, on the Arab side, by the Arab Towns Organisation (ATO), the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI) and Dubai Municipality and, on the European side, by the Standing Committee for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership of Local Authorities and Regions (COPPEM), Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at the Council of Europe (CLARE). Etisalat is the official sponsor of the event.

Dubai, February 5, 2008

The city of Dubai will host the third Euro-Arab Cities Forum at Madinat Jumeirah during 10-11 February 2008. The forum, held under the patronage of the Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Municipality Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, will be attended by 120 Mayors from European and Arab cities.

Announcing the activities of the forum at a press conference on Tuesday, Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah, Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality said the event will be held under the theme “New Dialogue for Development.”

Highlighting the significance of dialogue, he said, it is a major factor in the peaceful and amicable resolution of differences and problems, adding that dialogue breaks down any ideological barrier, build bridges and narrows differences in ideas and creates conducive atmosphere.

Lootah said: “It is in view of these facts that we decided to organise the forum, which we hope will lead to providing solutions to these problems creating a climate of love and harmony among all the participants and helping all to achieve more progress and development in their respective areas.”

He added: “By holding this forum, we aim to establish regional partnerships and co-operation among cities, regions and local administrations whose culture, resources and interest compliment each other’s. We also aim to face challenges in order to build a bright future at the level of model cities which we all agreed to call ‘nurseries of development’, to build a real partnership through new dialogue that will reflect positively on the cities, regions and local administrations of all partners involved and to highlight and benefit from the best practices in a way that will suit both the Arab and European sides.”

Lootah pointed out that the forum will discuss a number of important issues of interest to all cities of the world, including the issue of good local governance. He said discussions would focus on ways and means of improving performance and good execution of works by adopting effective policies like decentralisation, judicious investment of resources and funds for development projects, proper handling of the issue of migration from rural to urban areas, the best administration method for new communities, development of property ownership legislations and systems and the developing of slums. The forum will also discuss public transport and town planning, environmental and water issues, as well as financial tools for funding of joint ventures of cultural and heritage projects.

A large number of prominent Arab and European personalities, including mayors of cities, heads of municipalities and local councils, are taking part in the forum. Invitations are sent to sixty European mayors and sixty Arab mayors, in addition to a number of distinguished guests from international organisations and institutions, including Ban Ki Moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Amr Mousa, the Secretary General of the Arab League, AbdulRahman Al Atiyya, the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council and other distinguished personalities.”

The forum is being organised, on the Arab side, by the Arab Towns Organisation (ATO), the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI) and Dubai Municipality and, on the European side, by the Standing Committee for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership of Local Authorities and Regions (COPPEM), Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at the Council of Europe (CLARE). Etisalat is the official sponsor of the event.

Dubai Municipality has completed all the preparations to hold the forum in coordination with other concerned bodies in Dubai. Six committees had been set up to supervise the activities of the forum including a public relations committee, media committee, scientific committee, secretarial and services committee, opening ceremony committee and accommodation committee.

Jassim Mohammed Bin Darwish, Secretary General of the General Secretariat of UAE Municipalities said: “The Euro-Arab Forum, which will be hosted by Dubai Municipality, aims to create development solutions through the direct exchange of expertise between European and Arab cities.”

He said: “We must support these discussions, focus on the best practices and enlarge the communication networks by increasing the number of participating countries and through global administrations of European and Arab countries. The discussions must include active associations, which will help to transform the expertise and experience on different levels so as to benefit from specialists in the civil work arena. In turn this will strengthen relationships between local administrations and municipalities for both the Arab world and Europe.”

Ghanim Ali Al Marri, Deputy General Manager, Dubai Region, Etisalat said: “Etisalat’s association with this event demonstrates the role and success of the company, and subsequently reflects positively on the UAE.”

Lootah also launched the website of the Euro-Arab Cities Forum www.euroarabforum.ae at the end of the press conference.

Dubai Municipality (DM) has introduced a new electronic complaint system that will facilitate easy contact with its growing clientele. Engineer Hussein Nasir Lootah, Acting Director General, yesterday (Monday) launched the new institutional complaint system which aims at improving DM services to its clients.DM officials, including heads of the various divisions, attended the launching of the new system, which is in line with the directives of the Dubai Executive Council. It also reflects DM’s commitment to share common system with other local government departments and institutions to maintain the emirate’s high reputation at the local, regional and international levels.

Commenting on the occasion, Engineer Lootah said: “The new complaint system, which is being adopted by most institutions worldwide, is based on the best practices. This is aimed at maximising the benefit from the system to improve institutional performance, win more customer satisfaction and boost further our good reputation.”

He said Dubai Municipality is one of the world’s best institutions having been providing innovative and excellent services for its clientele, while striving to reach the peak of their satisfaction. “It is in pursuance of this aim that we introduce the new complaint service system to use their views in improving our services for them,” he added.

“Clients can present their complaints for various reasons. They may lodge complaints if a municipality personnel offer them poor service or failed to serve them accordingly, or acted arbitrarily against them without justification, or in the case of excessive delay in the processing of their transaction, or when the laid down rules are flouted or when a mistake is committed in the implementation of the laid down rules. One can also lodge complaint for financial or administrative violations,” he further explained.

Engineer Hawa Besitki, Director of Administrative and Quality Development Division of the municipality said: “The launching of the project followed a thorough study of various complaint systems in various government departments from which we found out the differences in each of the systems. We also realised that there is a chance to improve upon the current situation and there exist a true desire from a number of departments and their clients for an effective and common electronic complaint system.”

She said the system is a general one and aims at creating a positive impression about Dubai as a unique international city that provides excellent services for clients, adding that it also aims at boosting further the satisfaction of clients by finding solutions to their problems, making good use of their complaints to improve performance.

She pointed out that the launch of the system is in support of the eGovernment in the Emirate of Dubai and is within the framework of Dubai’s 2007-2015 strategic plan. She said the system is comprehensive as it includes processes for receiving, studying and processing of complainants for suitable solutions, adding that the new electronic system will be uniformly implemented in all Dubai government departments by the Dubai Executive Council (DEC).

“The new system will be implemented in three phases beginning with the Dubai Municipality, Dubai Police, Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department, Department of Health and Medical Services, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and Dubai Roads and Transport Authority. Phase 2 and 3 will include all other Dubai government departments,” she explained, adding that personnel from all the departments will be trained on the new electronic system and a special customer care office will be opened at the DEC premises.

She pointed out that complaints would be received through Dubai Municipality website (http://www.dm.gov.ae) , P.O. Box 67 Dubai, Fax number 04 – 2064428, or through the complaint boxes or by calling toll free number 800900 or by coming in person to lodge complaint or through Dubai Government website (http://www.dubai.ae).

“The new system has many advantages. It is highly technical, very fast in accessing results and analysis, it saves time and efforts, cost effective and has very little margin of error. This is addition to being very easy to use ant to present report,” she said, adding that departments which excel in the application of the new system will be rewarded and honoured during the Dubai Government Excellence Award.

Engineer Hussein Nasir Lootah, DM Acting Director General, said: “In total cooperation and continuous coordination with the Dubai eGovernment, Dubai Municipality is putting into action the Dubai strategy to make it a reality on the ground. We are working to ensure total conversion of our services to electronic system, to ensure all divisions of the municipality process all their transactions online.”

He added that the cooperation was clearly visible when the Dubai eGovernment hosted the www.eweek.ae during the “Technology Week” campaign launched by Dubai Municipality from September 23.”

Mr. Abdullah Al Shebani, DM Assistant Director General for Technical Services highlighted areas of cooperation between his outfit and the Dubai eGovernment. He said: “Dubai Municipality is in total coordination with Dubai eGovernment. The municipality gives serious attention to Dubai eGovernment’s priorities, particularly the achieving of 90% conversion of its services and processing of transactions to the electronic system. God’s willing we hope to achieve 100% conversion by the end of the year.”

“Regarding the use of e-Services in processing the municipality’s transactions, we currently process 97% of our transactions electronically, beating the Dubai eGovernment demand of 50% timeframe,” he added.

He cited some of the services being provided to the Dubai Municipality by the Dubai eGovernment in recent time as including eHost, which, he said, hosted the municipality’s eServices website www.eweek.ae during the Technology Week” campaign which the municipality launched on September 23 and will last until December 13.

He said through the eHost service, the Dubai eGovernment provided for the municipality’s website excellent and high quality technical services which enable visitors to the website to process their transactions easily and rapidly, adding that the strong coordination between the Dubai eGovernment and the task force of the eWeek led to the release of regular reports about the significance of the system to clients, having been providing for users the basic services needed through the 700040000 contact number.

He pointed out that Dubai Municipality is primarily using the ePayment gate provided by the Dubai eGovernment, which also bears the extra cost accrued from the use of the service. “Dubai Municipality is also actively participating with its task force in all committees set up by the Dubai eGovernment, including the Marketing Committee, ePayment Activation Committee, eDelivery Committee, which oversees the direct delivery of transactions to owners by post to minimise visit of clients to the municipality premises,” he said, adding that other areas of coordination and bilateral cooperation between the two sides include the DM’s active participation in conferences and forums organised by Dubai eGovernment. “This include Dubai Municipality’s participation in the Middle East eGovernment Conference which was held in Dubai in April 2007 and a similar one held in Jordan earlier in March 2007, in addition to the municipality’s regular participation in the annual GITEX Conference under the pavilion of Dubai eGovernment,” he explained.

Al Shebani further explained that areas of cooperation between Dubai Municipality and Dubai eGovernment are many. He cited some of these areas as including the unified identity project (eJawaz), the “askDubai” service for which a customer service centre was set up in Ajman, activating of technical network with other Dubai departments, DM’s use of the “mDubai” service to notify its clients about the status of their transactions through SMS service.

“The municipality also uses the ePoll service being offered by the Dubai eGovernment. We are using that service in the ongoing Technology Week campaign,” he said, adding “So far, the 781 respondents in the opinion poll conducted on the eWeek services have expressed their views with 92% expressing satisfaction with the electronic services being offered during the Technology Week campaign.”

He said the municipality had conducted six polls in the past two years using the ePoll service. He added that the municipality continues to be in close contact and coordination with all related divisions like the Information Technology Division, Administrative Development Division and the Public Relations Division to promote its services.

It’s worth mentioning here that Dubai Municipality has won a number of international and regional awards in recognition of its outstanding e-Services.  The United Nations honoured in New York in June 2006 the Dubai Municipality for having won the UN Public Services Award (e-Government category). Dubai Municipality also won in May 2007 the Middle East Institute Award for the Best Arab e-Services Provider. The municipality’s website also won the Emirates eContent Award (eGovernment category) and was also adjudged the best Arab government website at the World Summit Award (WSA) which was held in Tunisia in 2005.

Dubai, October 20, 2007

The “Technology Week” launched on September 23 by Dubai Municipality (DM) continues unabated. The programme, which is aimed at enabling the general public, particularly DM clients to process their transactions online entres its third phase with the Drainage Division taking its turn from tomorrow, Sunday, October 21 following the success achieved by the Environment and Public Health divisions.

Having assigned a week for each of its various divisions during which clients would be educated on how to access online services and process transactions from the comfort of their homes and offices, the municipality has also set up a platform at its main office manned by qualified personnel throughout the period of the programme to help clients adjust to the new system.

In a statement on this occasion, DM’s Acting Director General, Hussein Nasir Lootah, said: “Dubai Municipality is committed to providing excellent services for its clients. It is in view of this commitment that the municipality decided to organise the “Technology Week” and to go fully electronic in all its transactions and services to save time and efforts and to eliminate all boring routine works in the system.

“We are on track with Dubai’s strategy, which is based on rapid and easy discharge of work. Through the “Technology Week” programme the Dubai Municipality has set aside for each of its various divisions a full week during which all transactions related to that division would be processed electronically, to shift from the old system of manual processing of transactions.

“Clients can now process their transactions online from the comfort of their homes and offices and from everywhere. They can also do so at the customer service counter at the main office of the municipality, where the municipality has built a special platform and equipped it with the necessary equipment and personnel to assist clients process their transactions online.”

DM’s Assistant Director General for Technical Services, Engineer Abdullah Al Shebani, said the municipality had taken a giant stride in the area of online services having succeeded in converting about 94% of its services to electronic system. He said his outfit was working hard to achieve 100% conversion of all its services and systems to electronic by the end of the year.

“The Municipality’s clients can now access online all the about 520 services being rendered by the municipality via the municipality’s website. They can also process about 397 transactions online,” he said.

Touching on the reaction of the general public to the “Technology Week”, Al Shebani said the Environment Division’s Technology Week, which was held from September 23 to 27, was highly patronised by clients with the division having recorded 1,250 online transactions within the period. “The Technology Week platform set up in main office trained 65 clients on how to use the new system, 152 new clients were registered. The figure represents a growth of 46%, while 91% of 204 respondents expressed their satisfaction with the new system in a poll conducted during the campaign,” he explained.

He pointed out that there was a significant rise in the number of transactions related to all services. He said the Environment Division is now 100% electronic in the processing of all its transactions and services, adding that the division provides 24-hour online service in the processing of transactions.

Touching on the Health Division’s Technology Week, Al Shebani said the week which spanned from October 7 to 11, witnessed the processing of more than 11,887 transactions electronically.

He pointed out that the special platform built by the DM at its main premise trained 83 clients on how to use the new system to surf through the municipality’s web site, access all kinds of services and process any related transaction independently. He said about 126 new clients, including corporate bodies and individuals were registered, adding that from the 172 respondents covered by a poll related to the new system, 92% expressed great satisfaction on the services offered during the “Technology Week” campaign.

“It’s worth noting here that the Health Division of Dubai Municipality is now 100% electronic in all its transactions and services,” he said.

The “Technology Week” began with the Environment Division on September 23 and was quickly followed by the Health Division from October 7 to 11. The campaign is now in its third week with the Drainage Division, which begins from October 21. It is to be followed by the Planning and Area Division from November 4, then the Building Division – Rehabilitation Section – from November 18 and finally end with the Building Division – Building Permit Section – from December 9.

By embarking on this programme, the municipality aims at further improving the quality of its services, unifying the technical standards and finding rapid solutions for problems to improve the level of customer satisfaction.

Dubai, October 18, 2007

The Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality, Engineer Hussein Nasir Lootah, has said that the “Technology Week” launched by the Dubai Municipality (DM) has being attracting high patronage as all transactions at the DM’s Health Division are being processed electronically from within and outside the DM main premise, adding that over 11,887 transactions had been processed electronically during the “Technology Week” of the Health Division.

Commenting on the success of the campaign, Engineer Lootah said the great success achieved by the “Technology Week” campaign and the unprecedented patronage by clients in the programme have given DM officials a big boost to move forward with the plan towards a total conversion of the municipality’s services and transactions to electronic system within the shortest time.

Also commenting on the campaign, DM Assistant Director General, Mr. Abdullah Al Shebani said the “Technology Week” of the Health Division, which spanned from October 7 to 11, was highly patronised by clients, adding that the Health Division, which stopped manual processing of transactions during that period, processed more than 11,887 transactions electronically.

He pointed out that the special platform built by the DM at its main premise trained 83 clients on how to use the new system to surf through the municipality’s web site, access all kinds of services and process any related transaction independently. He said about 162 new clients, including corporate bodies and individuals were registered, adding that from the 172 respondents covered by a poll related to the new system, 92% expressed great satisfaction on the services offered during the “Technology Week” campaign.

“It’s worth noting here that the Health Division of Dubai Municipality is now 100% electronic in all its transactions and services,” he said.

Mr. Shebani noted that Dubai Municipality continues to offer to the general public excellent online services. He said the municipality had so far processed more than 3.5 million transactions since the launch of the “Technology Week” in October 2001, the figure represents an average of 90,000 transactions per month, adding that the municipality had also succeeded in converting 94% of its services from manual to electronic system and would be 100% electronic by the end of the year.

The “Technology Week” began with the Environment Division on September 23 and was quickly followed by the Health Division from October 7 to 11. The campaign is scheduled to continue with the Drainage Division from October 21, to be followed by the Planning and Area Division from November 4, then the Building Division – Rehabilitation Section – from November 18 and finally end with the Building Division – Building Permit Section – from December 9.

By embarking on this programme, the municipality aims at further improving the quality of its services, unifying the technical standards and finding rapid solutions for problems to improve the level of customer satisfaction.