ABU DHABI // The President, Sheikh Khalifa, today honoured Emiratis who have helped the UAE to develop.
Sheikh Khalifa presented them with the Presidential Appreciation Award in honour of their service, state news agency Wam reported.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, also attended the ceremony at Al Diyafa Palace in Mushrif.
All of the award winners had worked hard to serve their country and deserved to be recognised, Sheikh Khalifa said.
Some of those honoured were deceased and they received a special praise.
“This award is a celebration of the great role they played in the service of the UAE and the impact they have made in our lives as Emiratis,” Sheikh Khalifa said.
He said the purpose of the awards was to raise the status of the recipients and to put them in a class of their own.
The Emiratis honoured ranged from doctors to poets.
Saeed Mohammed Al Raqbani, the personal adviser to the Ruler of Fujairah and a former Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, was honoured in the “supporting the spirit of the union” category.
Dr Abdul Raheem Abdullah Jafar Al Zarouni received the education award. He completed his medical studies in the United States and returned to the UAE in 1975, helping to establish the College of Medicine and Health Science.
A number of Emiratis were honoured for “supporting principles of giving”, including Dr Jamal Sanad Al Suwaidi, a political scientist and head of the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research.
In agriculture, Zuhair Ahmed Mohammed Abu Al Adeeb, Sheikh Khalifa’s agriculture adviser, was honoured, and Rashid Abdullah Omran Al Shamsi, who has worked to provide health services for Emiratis, received the award for humanitarian work.
Of those who had passed away, Jawan Salem Al Dhaheri, one of the oldest officials in Abu Dhabi, Butti Humaid bin Bishr Al Marri, the personal secretary to the Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed, and Thani bin Ahmed Al Muhairi, one of the first judges in Al Ain, were all honoured for their service.
Poets Hamad Khalifa Abu Shihab, who was born in 1932 in Ajman and hosted the country’s first poetry television show, and Salem Mohammed Salem Al Jamri, born in 1910 in Dubai, were honoured for their contributions to literature.
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