Dubai: A well-planned development of Al Dhaid town in Sharjah’s Central Region has helped the local municipality earn a revenue of Dh20 million this year from an array of development projects, a senior official of the city municipality said.
In an interview with the Sharjah Government Bureau, Ali Al Tunaiji, director of Al Dhaid City Municipality, pointed out the remarkable evolution of the town and lauded the importance given by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, to making it a model town and providing employment opportunities to its residents while preserving its authentic identity.
Al Tunaiji said: “The attention at the highest levels has accelerated the pace of work and production.”
Elaborating on the approach, he said: “We started by focusing on the markets area first, which is strategically located between various emirates in the country and, therefore, must have an economic value and form a cultural hub among all other cities.”
Al Tunaiji pointed out that Al Misyal Market at Al Dhaid was built at a cost of Dh3 million and recently opened, and the Thursday Market (Souq Al Khamis) will soon be inaugurated in an area that previously lacked such services.
“We also have the Heritage Village, which was established eight years ago and is one of the first such village in the emirate. The village, which attracts citizens and residents alike with a variety of cultural and recreational activities, has become a studio for many of the programmes of Al Dhaid’s Al Wosta channel,” he said.
Housing for nationals
In accordance with the Sharjah leadership’s guidance, the municipality has also been giving highest priority to providing housing for the UAE nationals.
“As far as housing is concerned,” Al Tunaiji said, “Dr Shaikh Sultan ordered that old traditional houses built before 2001 be razed and replaced with new modern neighbourhoods that meet certain criteria, such as preserving the environment and family cohesion. An amount of Dh250,000 was given as a gift to every citizen whose old house was demolished, in addition to a new house. This resulted in the establishment of the new neighbourhoods of Jabal Omar, Tal Al Zafaran, Al Hisn, Tibah, Al Sharee’a, Al Suwaih, Al Bustan, Suhaila, Zubaydah, and Wishah.”
For places as remote as Dibba Al Hisn, the municipality developed the Al Raq neighbourhood in Suhaila comprising more than 1,000 family homes with all necessary facilities, including schools, parks, mosques and markets. The Sharjah government also distributed nearly 1,000 plots of land in Al Dhaid’s new commercial area and Suhaila, in addition to another 1,000 plots in the new industrial area and the efforts will be ongoing to provide citizens with plots of land for housing.
Al Dhaid boasts of several parks for women and children and families in several neighbourhoods to provide social meeting points.
The municipality chief also pointed out that Al Dhaid, which hosts a population of 25,000, also has a nursery for children between Al Suwaih and Al Bustan and three kindergartens in Tibah, Al Hisn and Al Sharee’a. It additionally has general education schools for both boys and girls, a public library and the University of Sharjah — Al Dhaid, which complements the educational system in the city.
