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Mohammed honours exemplary staff

DUBAI - In a unique gesture of recognition of the hard work put in by employees of the Dubai Government, General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE's Defence Minister, yesterday read out the names of 17 exemplary government employees of various local government departments in the emirate and thanked them for their hard work.

Speaking at the awards ceremony for the Dubai Government Excellence Programme and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Arab Management, Gen. Shaikh Mohammed said: "Each of us must have a dream and a driving ambition. My ambition is to have a government that fully embraces the e-government revolution and abolishes the need for direct service provision. I look forward to the day when the customer does not have to present personal documents every time he/she asks for a service.

"I aim for all our decisions to be made scientifically and backed by valid data and information. I dream that all of us will work as one team to mould the future of our country," Gen. Shaikh Mohammed said in his speech.

The most exemplary local government department for 2002, offering the highest level of customer service, is the Dubai Civil Aviation Department, as determined by a 'Mystery Shopper' study conducted throughout the year to assess the level of customer services in each department.

Shaikh Mohammed pointed to a new phase and a world that only recognises people who are creative and productive, a world that demands a continuous supply of capable leaders, generation after generation, leaders who can build on the momentum and lead to the future. He said the Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Programme for Leadership Development nurtured leadership talent that would lead Dubai into the future.

Gen. Shaikh Mohammed said he had ordered an update of criteria for the Dubai Excellence Programme in order to stay ahead of future challenges, so that the award got global recognition. "The aim of this move is to ensure transparency in work and services," he added.

"It has been five years since the launch of the Dubai Government Excellence Programme. I look back at how our departments thought and operated in the past and I look at their current status and how they should be in future. It used to be that our departments did not focus much on employee training," he said, adding: "Some of them did not acknowledge that cost efficiency was an applicable criterion for them, as they saw themselves in the government sector where profit and cost implications do not apply. Other departments used to note that they do not have customers, while others did not consider delegation of responsibility appropriate."

Gen. Shaikh Mohammed stressed that such perceptions had been changed in the public sector through Dubai Government Excellence Programme.

The Exemplary Government Employee for 2002 Award was shared by Nasser Ahmad Saeed, from Dubai Municipality's Roads Department, and Abdel Salam Al Marzouqi, from the Family Guidance and Reformation Section of Dubai Courts Department.

The Best Technical Project by a Government Department is the e-Gate Project of the Dubai Naturalisation and Residence Department (DNRD); the Best Administrative Experience Award was given to the Department of Economic Development, while the Best Work Team Award was awarded jointly to Dubai Municipality and Dubai Police.

While the Dubai Civil Aviation scored the highest mark of 73, the lowest of 48 was scored by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Best Arab Award

The Exemplary Arab Management Personality, of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Arab Management for 2002, went to Abdel Majeed Shouman, the founder of the Arab Bank Plc. established in the UAE in 1963 in Sharjah.

The Best Arab Government Organisation award went to the Decision Making Support Council of the Ministerial Council of Egypt. The Arab Establishment with Exemplary Administration award went to Gulf Pharmaceutical in Bahrain.

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