Sharjah: Sharjah has opened its doors to national and international media, and pledged to offer real-time responses to incidents and inquires for information about incidents taking place in the emirate, a top media official told Gulf News yesterday.
The remarks came on the occasion of the Sharjah Media Centre inauguration held yesterday. The centre will facilitate the flow of information and news from different departments in the emirate to local and international media, according to officials from the centre.
Located at the new headquarters of the Sharjah Culture and Information Department in Al Liyyah area, the centre was officially opened by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.
Shaikh Sultan Bin Ahmad Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Culture and Information Department and Chairman of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, said the launching of the centre is a landmark event in the emirate because it will improve the relations between Sharjah and media representatives and will help them to have access to information.
He said the aim of the centre is to offer a platform for media representatives to meet in Sharjah with officials, academics and businessmen from the emirate and offer them easy access to information.
He said the target is to dispense information about the emirate regardless of how people might read them. "We would love to promote Sharjah and we will strive to take part in events that are meant to promote tourist and cultural facilities in the emirate, but we would not block negative information or information about incidents beyond our control," he said.
"We will conduct training courses for heads of departments and heads of media sections to make sure that they are capable of dealing with the press," he said.
Masterpiece
A host of dignitaries, senior officials and media representatives were present at the ceremony.
The new building is an architectural masterpiece and consists of several floors divided into departments including Arts-HeritageTheatre, Sharjah International Book Fair, Cultural Affairs and Cultural Awards, and Foreign Cultural Relations, and several sections like Media Studies, Public Relations, Finance, Administrative Affairs and Training.
Dr Shaikh Sultan ordered the establishment of several cultural institutions to fulfil his great vision. The projects covered conservation of cultural heritage, active interaction with other cultures, construction of museums and the other cultural, scientific and artistic centres in the emirate and the setting up of a television satellite channel that reflects and projects cultural values.
Official website
He also launched the official website of the Sharjah Media Centre which includes information about Sharjah and various services provided by the centre.
Aisha Al Ajil, Head of Media section at the department, told Gulf News that with the wisdom and skills of the Sharjah ruler, the emirate has not only emerged as the Cultural Capital of the UAE but also has been crowned as the Cultural Capital of the Gulf countries and that of the Arab World.
Vital role
"The announcement of Sharjah as the Cultural Capital of the Arab World by Unesco in 1998 was a direct recognition of the wise leadership and tireless efforts by the Sharjah ruler in cultural affairs," she noted.
"The cultural scheme for the Sharjah was formulated keeping in mind the vital role that culture is playing in the development of the community. The scheme focuses on developing the inherited artistic and aesthetic sense of the people and promoting their talents and intellectual aptitudes and creativity," she added.
