Civic chiefs want better deal for customers

ABU DHABI // Leaders from across the emirate have cited a number of improvements that should be made to customer services at municipalities. Free wireless internet access for people waiting at service counters and more convenient opening times for municipal offices were among the suggestions put forward at a two-day, top-level meeting that ended yesterday on Sir Bani Yas Island.

Executive directors from the Abu Dhabi, Western Region and Al Ain municipalities gathered there for the second in a series of four discussions. Ahmed Shareef, under-secretary of the Department of Municipal Affairs (DMA), said: "We are here to tell [the municipalities]...please simplify, be more clear, be more transparent. No matter how professionally we work, our performance is judged by our customers."

A customer comment process has recently been launched through the DMA's new website, to assess how the public regards municipal services. Mohammed al Hadrami, executive director of the municipal affairs support sector, said: "We need to think outside the box." The plan is to have all municipal services available over centralised customer service counters that opened just a year ago. [e-mail]