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16,800 emergency calls to civic body last year

Khalid AbdulRahim, Head of the Customer Service Section at the municipality, said the emergency office receives calls 24 hours a day and seven days a week on different problems such as leakage of drainage and irrigation lines, environmental pollution, noise and disturbances, food poisoning and expired food, faulty traffic signals, street lights, traffic congestions, bachelor accommodation in residential areas, unauthorised building, beggars and unlicensed sellers, pest control, veterinary services and stray animals, waste services, agriculture services, complaints on restaurants, cafeterias and hairdresser saloons, comments on public markets, abattoirs, public libraries, public parks, public transport, inquiries about traffic condition on the main roads of Dubai and on night duty pharmacies in Dubai.

He noted that of the total number of calls received last year, 4,700 calls or 28 per cent were related to real emergency cases and were solved within two hours, while 8,786 calls or 52 per cent, were solved within 24 hours. Mr AbdulRahim clarified that despite the record timing, the municipality has never compromised on the quality of the service.

"Area-wise, there were 10,504 calls from Deira, 5,705 calls from Bur Dubai and 682 calls from the rural areas. Some 685 calls came from the industrial areas of the emirate," Mr AbdulRahim said. He added that some of the calls related to other government departments and were referred to them. "In this category, we received 1,140 calls on services provided by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), Etisalat and Dubai Police, while some 2,164 calls were referred to private companies.

In all, more than 80 per cent of the calls were related to the various organisational units within the municipality and were referred to the relevant department for follow-up action," Mr AbdulRahim said.

He noted that among the various civic departments, most of the calls related to services offered by the drainage and irrigation network section (3,039 calls), building maintenance section (1,150 calls) and pest control section (963 calls).

A call to the emergency section, Mr AbdulRahim explained, is enough in most cases, while in other cases the caller is asked to come personally to the emergency office, he said.

The public can contact the Emergency Office via telephone on 04-2232323, through facsimile on 04-2232230, while e-mail can be sent to emergency@dm.gov.ae.

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