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The Consultative Council of the Emirate of Sharjah continued its pioneering role in discussing disturbing societal issues, finding ways to meet important and urgent needs, and raising claims that constitute an obsession, in its session that was held last Thursday, and witnessed interaction and movement, due to the importance of the objective contents it contained, related to public leadership. Sharjah Police, Sharjah Housing Programme, Agriculture and Livestock Departments, and Social Services.
The session dealt with the discussion of four parliamentary questions, which included demands of interest to a large segment of the emirate’s society, the most prominent of which was a request by member Saif Muhammad bin Ruwejda to solve the problem of the delay in promoting 166 officers working on the local cadre in the Sharjah Police General Command, from the rank of major to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and from there to the rank of colonel, and assisting those affiliated with that category to obtain the promotion they deserve, to be an incentive for them to redouble their efforts, giving, and achieving excellence in their work in loyalty to their country and society.
Member, Dr. Abdullah Al Darmaki, stressed the importance of compensating the citizens who were affected by the effects of the depression (the Leopard depression) that the emirate was exposed to, specifically the eastern region, and its damages affected the city of Kalba, Khorfakkan, and Dibba Al-Hisn, as the number of damaged homes reached 1,008 homes.
The member, Dr. Hamid Al-Zaabi, recommended developing a comprehensive plan to develop a mechanism that ensures the drainage of rainwater, not diverting the course of valleys without taking into account the topography and levels of the land, and limiting the negative practices of some companies working in the development process.
The session was chaired by Ali Mehd Al Suwaidi, Chairman of the Council, in the presence of Major General Saif Al Zari Al Shamsi, Commander-in-Chief of the Sharjah Police, Dr.
The first question
The first question, Dr. Hamid Al-Suwaiji Al-Zaabi, was directed to the Sharjah Housing Programme, and the text was read by Ahmed Saeed Al-Jarwan, Secretary-General of the Council, saying: Concerning what many people of the Emirate of Sharjah have been subjected to as a result of the torrential rains that the country recently witnessed, and which caused damage to public housing, as the statistics issued by The competent authorities, 918 homes were damaged in the city of Kalba, 85 in Khorfakkan, and 5 in Dibba Al-Hisn, so what are the roles and tasks of the Sharjah Housing Program in these exceptional circumstances? What are its interventions to provide the necessary support to those affected, and what are the efforts to contain the damage and losses incurred by them, and to initiate compensation and find adequate housing? Does the program have plans to deal with these challenges if – God forbid – they occur again?
Housing support
Dr. Khalifa Al Tunaiji said: His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, attaches importance to the issue of housing, and the provision of adequate and appropriate housing for the citizens of the emirate, as well as his directives to expand the provision of housing support to meet the increasing demands, as he instructed the construction of 4,400 housing units. It is distributed among residential complexes in the cities of the emirate, in addition to the decisions issued by the program periodically in terms of housing support for beneficiaries to build their individual homes, according to the designs they choose, as well as decisions related to building an addition to an existing house or maintaining it. The value of housing support since 2012 until now has amounted to more than 8 billion and 400 million dirhams, of which 10,353 beneficiaries benefited.
Temporary housing is one of the types of housing support provided by the program to the beneficiary temporarily in normal circumstances, when the eligibility conditions specified in the Executive Council’s decision are met, to search for a suitable housing unit prepared for rent, whether it is a house or an apartment, where the program takes care of paying the rent allowance or a large part of it, according to The specified ceiling for the eligibility categories, but in exceptional cases, the program takes a different approach, as it initiates the evacuation of the family from the house that has been damaged, and provides alternative housing for them, whether it is temporary until the end of the emergency situation, or the removal of the damage caused.
Accommodation insurance
The role of the program is crystallized in exceptional cases, in securing shelter for the family whose home has been exposed to damage that prevents them from benefiting from it, removing the damages caused, and returning the home to its first condition, or for the better, as since the program was honored with the royal assignment from His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, to secure temporary housing for citizens Especially in exceptional circumstances, start coordinating with hotels operating in the region to receive any case referred by the program to them, and accommodate them for the period specified by the program, until the danger stage passes, and the damage caused is removed.
Dr. added. Al-Tunaiji: With regard to the recent depression that the eastern region in general and the city of Kalba were exposed to in particular, the program was fully prepared to face such challenges and crises, and continued to work at an accelerated pace, to provide relief to humanitarian cases and affected families quickly, and to provide shelters professionally and in coordination Prior cooperation and concerted efforts of all parties participating with the program in this regard.
The efforts resulted in quickly sheltering the affected families in the designated shelters and selected hotel facilities in the eastern region and in the city of Sharjah, and providing everything that these families need daily, in coordination with the competent authorities. Temporary housing solutions for owners of houses that have been proven unfit for habitation by providing annual rental assistance, and raising cases of falling houses to the competent authorities to consider permanent housing solutions.
The program ensured the accommodation of 64 families, numbering 422 members, in emergency housing, in 6 hotel facilities with 123 hotel rooms, and a suite at a total cost of accommodation of 250,580 dirhams, including 50 families from the city of Kalba, 11 from Khorfakkan, and 3 from the city of Dibba Al-Hisn, and the technical teams visited
