Dubai is the place to attain goals - Hamdan

Dubai: Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince last night said Dubai was the place for the achievers.

To emphasis his point he told the audience what his father always used to tell them: "You are my children and I love you and Dubai is my daughter and I love her, but in Dubai there is no place for the one who does not accomplish, produce and create."

He was inaugurating an awards ceremony for the winners of the 10th Dubai Government Excellence Programme.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Sunday honoured the winners and said that the programme was a measurement of the progress of government departments and employees.

Shaikh Mohammad then honoured the winners of the Dubai Government Excellence Programme in various categories.

He also honoured the unsung employees in government departments as well as the establishers of the programmes including Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and other contributors.

Special honours

Shaikh Mohammad congratulated the winners and said the government would focus on establishing houses, hospitals and schools for the people, as life is short and time is limited. Therefore efforts must be taken to serve the people and society to enable them to live decent lives.

Eighteen government departments competed in various categories of the programme.

Special honours included Dubai Courts for achieving the highest percentage of performance progress, followed by Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) for implementing a customer complaint system, Dewa (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) and the Economic Development Department.

Shaikh Mohammad honoured seven sons of Mattar Sultan Awad Al Siri, who volunteered and contributed in exhausting rain water, which accumulated on Emirates Road during the latest rain.

His sons, Abdullah, Mohammad, Jamal, Saeed, Badr, Rashid and Gaith worked throughout the night during the heavy rain to help drain the road and ease traffic.

To reinforce Dubai's commitment to the best practices and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Dubai Government Excellence Programme Awards, Shaikh Hamdan who is also Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, presented the Covenant of Excellence to Shaikh Mohammad.

The Covenant collectively voiced the appreciation of Dubai government's leaders and heads of departments, unanimously acknowledging the rare leadership exemplified by Shaikh Mohammad.

Affirming their commitment to raising the bar of excellence, the departmental heads confirmed: "As we come together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the programme, we firmly pledge to assert our long lasting dedication to abide by your principles of quality, and comply with the criteria of excellence in both words and deeds."