Dubai: Dubai Municipality achieved a budget surplus of Dh2.1 billion in 2011, said Mohammad Abdul Karim Julfar, Assistant Director General of Dubai Municipality.
The civic body took numerous initiatives in rationalisation of expenses, which helped it reduce costs in the general budget by 19 per cent (compared to 2010), operating expenses by 10 per cent and projects by 25 per cent.
In the procurement process, the team studied the needs of organisational units, purchased bulk and supplied according to the demand, thereby reducing the cost of purchasing and storage.
Corrective maintenance
In maintenance of public property such as buildings, equipment, vehicles, machinery, furniture and infrastructure, it focused on corrective maintenance. In the field of electronic services, it converted 81 services into e-services, saving Dh76 million a year," he said.
The municipality applied nine programmes for the rationalisation of expenses in operational activities, which helped it save Dh245 million and applied four programmes in the field of income development, saving Dh328 million.
Saif Al Shamsi, Director of the Finance Department, said that its zero visit initiative reflected positively on reducing expenses. In training, the civic body studied the actual needs of the training courses for employees.
In the area of revenue, it updated the services, introduced new activities in line with the needs of dealers and established specific markets with funding from the private sector in addition to an efficient collection of revenues, fees, rents and follow-up of government funds considering the priorities.
Rationalisation
He said 87 initiatives were recorded in rationalisation programmes, resulting in the saving of Dh884 million, representing 14 per cent of the budget of operating expenses and 6 per cent of the projects budget.
In the area of revenue development, 29 initiatives were recorded, leading to a saving of Dh328 million, representing 7 per cent of total budget revenues.
- Dh76m: was saved in the field of electronic services
- Dh245m: the amount saved in operational activities
- Dh328m: saved in the field of income development
