ABU DHABI // Nine hundred families have reached the final review stage in their bid for housing aid.
They must now report to a Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme (SZHP) office to be interviewed.
This is the third of six batches of applications the programme will announce in the coming weeks after Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, approved Dh2.1 billion in aid for 5,000 Emirati households.
"This generous decision by Sheikh Mohammed is a huge step towards our goals and the Government's aims to ensure housing security and a comfortable standard to living for all Emirati families," said Dr Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Minister of Public Works and chairman of the programme.
He said they had about 28,000 pending applications from families in every emirate, some of which date back to 2006.
"This grant will be a big step in helping us reduce our backlog so that we can begin assessing the new requests," Dr Al Nuaimi said. "The number of applications we have pending increases by 5 to 10 per cent each year."
The programme is to hand out 5,000 grants by the end of the year.
"We will have to process 1,000 applications a week if we are to complete the task within the allotted time period," Dr Al Nuaimi said.
The programme has already approved aid for 800 Emirati families this month and released the names of a further 880 who had made it to final review stage. Both groups applied for aid between 2006 and 2009 and have a monthly income of less than Dh10,000.
Dr Al Nuaimi said they would begin reviewing another 900 applicants immediately, with approvals to be announced in December.
Applications are judged using a points system. You receive 20 points if you live with family or rent a home, with another point for each child. The more points, the sooner an application is processed.
"The SZHP is coordinating with local governments to speed up any documentation processes for the applicants whose names have been announced," said Jamila Al Fandi, acting general manager of the programme.
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SQUAD
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Rating: ****
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Final: Netherlands beat PNG by seven wickets
Qualified teams
1. Netherlands
2. PNG
3. Ireland
4. Namibia
5. Scotland
6. Oman
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Group A: Sri Lanka, PNG, Ireland, Oman
Group B: Bangladesh, Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland
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Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, AWD
Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
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126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
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Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson
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Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
