Dubai’s ruler shares image of long queues at Emirates Post centre, pledges change

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has promised transparency in governmental services after noting substandard levels in an Emirates Post centre.

Taking to Twitter on Monday, Sheikh Mohammed shared an image of people waiting in a long queue at an Emirates Post centre that was taken by a “secret shopper”.

“This is not the level of our services… And those who provide this level of service will not be within my team,” he said.

صورة وصلتني عبر متسوق سري لمستوى الخدمات في بريد الإمارات …
ليس هذا مستوانا .. ولا خدماتنا .. ولن يكون ضمن فريقي من يستمر في تقديم هذا المستوى .. pic.twitter.com/pVXfZrHVCe

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) April 22, 2019

He added: “We have sent a team to check the level of Emirates Post services at one of their centres. The Panel has returned with this report. I put it in front of everyone in all transparency. I say to all of the government.. Nothing will pass without a follow-up.”

أرسلنا فريقا للتحقق من مستوى خدمات بريد الامارات في أحد مراكزهم .. عاد الفريق بهذا التقرير .. أضعه أمام الجميع بكل شفافية .. وأقول لجميع من في الحكومة .. لن يمر شيء دون متابعة بكل شفافية .. pic.twitter.com/sibQRzuHhB

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) April 22, 2019

The report highlighted several aspects including the services offered, the capacity and the level of training.

It found that a lot of people spent time waiting for services, with the majority being called at the same time to pick up their Emirates IDs. Visitors were also required to visit several counters to complete the transaction and that the staff were not trained to deal with the people.

The centre was handing out roughly 3,000 IDs per day, and was not prepared or expecting to deal with such crowds, the report added.

The UAE leader has become known for his more direct approach regarding performance at government departments.

In July last year, he warned that low employee satisfaction ratings at federal government agencies were “unacceptable”.

Read more: UAE VP says low employee satisfaction rates at gov agencies ‘unacceptable’

Also read: Dubai ruler says dismissed Municipality officials had stopped working

He also stressed in November that providing “the best government services in the world” was “the main objective of every government entity in the UAE”.

“We want government entities to provide the best services in the world. This is what we are looking for and we don’t accept any delays or hesitation or excuses that prevent us from achieving this goal,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

Read: Sheikh Mohammed to UAE govt workers: ‘We don’t accept any delays or excuses’