Emergency counters fail to cater to needs of residents

Most emergency counters set up during the mourning period and Eid Al Fitr holidays are functioning in name only.

Despite a statement that emergency counters would be open during this period, visa applicants at the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department were turned away yesterday.

More than 100 applicants, mostly needing visit visa renewals, were told to come back on Saturday by an official behind a closed gate.

Desperate applicants passed their visas between the gate's bars and the official stamped different dates on the back starting from Saturday.

"We are just turned away and there is no one to assure us that we will not receive fines for overstaying, although we have done nothing wrong.

"A friend of mine whose visit visa expired during Shaikh Zayed's mourning period had to pay a fine for over staying when he left the country on Monday, despite published assurances that fines accumulated during this period would be waived," an applicant said.

Brigadier Saeed Mattar Bin Bleilah, Director-General of Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department, recently said emergency counters had been set up for customers to obtain or renew their visit visas during the official mourning period and the Eid Al Fitr holidays.

"The counters will receive only those applicants who need to obtain, renew or cancel their visit visas urgently. The counters will also process visas for companies online.

"They will help in urgent cases only, this includes obtaining visit visas for caregivers, expectant wives or ill people. They will be open daily from 9am to 1pm, Saturday to Wednesday," he said.

An Australian said he had been waiting since November 3 to get his sponsorship transferred to another company.

"I am stranded here I'm unable to go home or join my new company. It's pathetic," he said.

No immigration official was available for comment.

Online visa processing was also unavailable yesterday, with no reason being offered. A representative from the Capitol group, who used these services, confirmed it had been working until then.

The sole official who showed up at the Dubai Residency Department told company representatives from behind a closed gate that Monday's thunderstorm caused the system to break down.

Salah Ahmad Khalil of the Al Awadi group of companies said he submitted visa applications to the department on Monday and returned on Tuesday, only to be told to come back on Saturday. Vallabh Gude of the Al Bustan Rotana group said a counter had not opened during the Eid holidays.

In Sharjah and Ajman, emergency services were not functioning and no one was available. Residents did not know where to go for their urgent applications.

"Those who visited government departments for their urgent applications found no one but the security guards at the gates. In some departments, there were only closed gates without guards.

"The guards, if there are any, are telling people to come after November 20, leaving people who are in desperate need confused about what to do and where to go," an Ajman resident said.

No emergency counters have been set up at the Sharjah Preventive Med-icine, Foreign Ministry or Labour Department.

There was also no emergency counter at the Ajman Naturalisation and Residency Department, Labour Department or Preventive Medicine. The only departments functioning properly in both emirates were the Electricity and Water Authority to allow people to pay their bills.

Emergency services in hospitals in both emirates were also functioning.

The Sharjah residency department was working for two hours from 9 to 11am, but the airport office was working around the clock as usual.

An official at the Abu Dhabi Immigration Department said a special counter to handle immigration matters were operating during the ongoing holidays to help cater to emergency cases.

"We have been offering services to applicants on a priority basis since all government departments have closed for the mourning period and Eid holiday," he said.

The Indian Consulate is working at full strength and was open to tackle all emergency cases during the holidays. "We were officially closed for three days from November 3 to 5. We had a three-day mourning period. We had been working at full strength from November 6 to 10.

On November 13, we closed again for Eid. We handled 15 deaths and issued three emergency visas during the holidays. We have an emergency 24-hour service to cater to any cause of death.

"There has been no disruption to our services," said Yash Sinha, the Indian consul-general.

P.D. Fernando, the Sri Lankan consul-general, said: "We have an officer to attend to any emergency cases. I do not recollect handling any emergencies by emergencies, I mean deaths."

Kamrul Ahsan, the Bangladesh consul-general, said the consulate remained semi-functional during the holidays to cater to emergency cases.

"No matter what the day or time is, the consulate is open for all types of emergency cases," he said.

The Pakistan Consulate General in Dubai and its embassy in Abu Dhabi continued to provide emergency services to community members.

"Our emergency service is open 24 hours and we received a number of emergency cases," said Imran Mirza, head of chancery at the consulate in Dubai. Most of the cases, he said, were related to the renewal of passports for those who had to travel urgently.

With additional inputs from Nissar Hoath, Sunita Menon and Ashfaq Ahmed

Waiting for services to resume