Clients 'now enjoy faster and hassle-free services'

Dubai: There are throngs of people at the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department every day but an efficient and professional machinery sorts matters out very quickly.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, appointed Brigadier Mohammad Ahmad Al Merri, who was with Dubai Police, as the Director-General of the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD).

DNRD, a key department, has shown noteworthy improvement, delivering services with a considerate touch.

Brigadier Al Merri, who took over a year ago, is convinced that nothing is impossible with team work, by listening to others and most importantly by "working more than talking".

He said his ambition is to improve the department beyond boundaries. "I want to make my department to be like Dubai Police, which along the years has gained international reputation and are now a success story. I am sure we will be able to achieve our goals." He also called on the public to share their ideas and opinions with him.

Gulf News: DNRD was once described as the worst department in Dubai. It was under fire and was widely criticised ... it was then handed to you a year ago. Have you been able to turn it around?

Al Merri: After 27 years of service with Dubai Police I learned commitment, dedication, honesty and transparency, which made it easy for me to step into DNRD.

From my first day at the department I decided to listen to others, meet my staff daily and work on gathering information about DNRD to move ahead with our goals. I noticed that many clients hesitated to knock on the Director-General's door. Communication between staff and customers was poor. Many looked at the department in a suspicious manner. But we have opened our doors to everybody. All our clients are important to us.

Some describe you as a sensitive person, which can make it difficult to handle a department like DNRD.

The past year has proved the opposite. I do not mean that I am not a sensitive man. Let us clearly say that some people were sceptical about the changes at the department, but gradually they have been convinced that Al Merri is the right man at the right place.

Do you think that you have achieved something in the past year?

Of course we have. Have a look. It is well organised. We have solved the problem of queuing.

Clients take a token and wait for their turn without any tension. We have staff who will not mislead customers. They will not let you wait for your turn for hours and then tell you we cannot process your transactions. There is no tension, no pressure. We have an information centre which guides clients before they start transactions.

We have customer service staff who roam the halls asking if anyone needs help. We still have a lot to do.

We have also improved our airport services. By monitoring passports we have detected a large number of forged passports. We are also working on solving problems that e-gate users sometimes face, by training our staff.

I get full support from Shaikh Mohammad and Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior.

I have seen you sitting at the counter processing clients' transaction yourself. Why do you do this?

It is good I have a witness. If clients have some of their transactions processed by the Director-General who sits at the counter with other staff, it will let customers know that mistakes will be rare and no one will to try bend the law.

The domestic helpers' job contract was criticised and it was said that you, as the head of the committee, had helped frame the contract and made it in the interest of the helpers, ignoring the sponsors. It was also said that it is not clear and needs to be changed.

Let me tell you something ... each party was expecting the new contract to be in accordance with his or her desire. Now about 90 per cent of the people are happy with it. The other thing is that the contract has helped reduce the number of cases of absconding housemaids by 50 per cent. I received many suggestions regarding changes in the contract but unfortunately they were not good. The door is still open to suggestions.

I think you are aware that some companies hire people to work for them and keep them on visit visas for many years. They renew them regularly because it does not cost the company too much money.

We are looking into this problem which has really reduced. People who accept to work on visit visas will not have any rights or dues or end of service benefits or anything. That issue is under our control now.

Some companies and labour agencies sponsor more than 5,000 workers and are not paying bank guarantee for them. These companies lend some of their workers to other companies for money. This is an illegal practice ... workers will get nothing.

You can ask the Labour Minister about the issue. He will be able to answer your question. There is, however, a plan for the establishment of a governmental Labour Corporation which will hire labourers from abroad. We are discussing that with the Minister of Interior.

With the current amnesty being announced, you and other officials have said the country will be completely rid of illegal residents. Do you think this is possible because no country has been able to achieve that yet? Are there enough manpower, inspectors, equipment and finance to really get rid of illegal residents in the UAE? Is there a plan or a kind of mechanism which will help DNRD and the Labour Ministry to trace these people?

We have a plan with the Ministry of Labour. We have said several times that there will be tough penalties for offenders of the Residency and Labour Law.

There will be more than 20,000 inspectors and campaigns. We will be tough on offenders. We will try our best to solve the problem, but maybe you are right ... one or two illegal residents could manage to escape from us.

Some of your staff have said that you do not smile? What do you have to say about this?

Look at my photos I am smiling all the time.

However, it is important for me to deal with my staff the way any father would behave with his children - strict and kind.

I want my staff to learn how to be loyal to their job which should top their priorities.