United Arab Emirates names and shames worst five government centers, rewards top five

Dubai

Dubai: Public services are windows for citizens to their governments and improving and developing services will remain a major priority, Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, has said.

“Providing high quality services is a flexible and changing goal. People’s expectations today are different than they were five or 10 years ago. A successful government adapts and meets changing expectations,” he said.

“We will evaluate services, ministers and general managers annually. We will also evaluate ministries and entities every year and present our reports with all transparency,” Shaikh Mohammed said after reviewing the results of comprehensive evaluation report of services in 600 service centers of 29 federal government entities.

In July, Shaikh Mohammed called for assessing government service centers and identifying the five best and worst centers.

Based on the results, he ordered replacing managers of the worst performing government service centers with efficient managers highly capable of serving the public in a manner that suits the UAE.

He also ordered general managers of entities and ministries to work on ground in service centers for a month to identify weaknesses and improve service performance. Shaikh Mohammed vowed to visit these centers to review their work mechanisms, the UAE news agency WAM reported.

“Our government is dynamic, rapidly-changing and adaptive to people’s aspirations. Those who cannot keep up with us may rest away from the government field work.”

Shaikh Mohammed referred to the ‘Letter of the new season” that stated, among its six articles, that the right place for officials is in the field, away from conference halls and forums to enable regular follow-up, evaluation and implementation of plans and strategies.

“We live in an open connected word where no one can conceal errors. Every hardworking individual is a star and an example to follow. Field evaluation produces reports that are more accurate and we seek to invite citizens to evaluate services, officials and policies that touch their lives. We have the courage to evaluate ourselves and our teams because the cost of hiding mistakes is much higher,” he said.

The report revealed Fujairah’s Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship center as the best performing centers, while Sharjah’s Emirates post, Al Khan Branch, has been named the worst performing center.

Shaikh Mohammed ordered a two-month salary reward and five-star category for teams of the best performing government centers for their dedication and endeavors to implement the vision of UAE government work that is built on excellence and achievement.

The report is the outcome of intensive and comprehensive field research and visits conducted by work teams directly under the Prime Minister’s Office.

Results were compiled after two months of daily visits to different government centers across the country, close follow-up on work mechanisms across the different levels of management and monitoring customer happiness and satisfaction of services.

Winners:

The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship’s center in Fujairah

The Ministry of Education center in Ajman

Traffic Services and Licensing Center in Ajman (Ministry of Interior) Wasit Police Station in Sharjah

Shaikh Zayed Housing Programme Center in Ras Al Khaimah

Losers:

Emirates Group, Al Khan Branch in Sharjah

Al Muhaisnah Centre for Preventive Medicine in Dubai (Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship)

General pension and Social Security Authority Center in Sharjah

Baniyas Centre for Social Affairs, Abu Dhabi (Ministry of Community Development)

Tawteen Centre in Fujairah (Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation)