Under the slogan “I am the protective shield of Dubai”, Dubai customs hosted the annual ceremony “ Fakhr Al Furdah” to honour employees with exceptional performance in 2012. Over 250 employees were honoured during the ceremony in addition to divisions and departments with major achievements in 2012.
The ceremony was held at Madinat Jumeirah, in presence of H.E Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation and Director General of Dubai customs, officials from the Department and a large number of employees.
At the beginning of the ceremony, H.E Ahmed Butti Ahmed expressed his gratitude to all Dubai Customs employees for their contributions and dedication in 2012, which reflected positively on performance level in all aspects. He said:” Today we say thank you to all those who innovated and excelled and whose efforts contributed in advancing work and job performance.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Dubai Customs Director General honoured the winners of the DGEP Awards 2012. He said that they are an example to follow for the innovative and dedicated employee, wishing everyone similar success. The awarding included the excellent technological project award, Saeed Al Tayer, winner of the Excellent Government Employee Award on the level of Dubai Government, Majid Abdul Wahid Al Zarooni, winner of the creative employee award, Ahmed Sideeq Al Balooshi, winner of field excellent employee award, and Abdullah Juma Al Dahmani, winner of the unknown soldier award.
In his speech, Mr Butti expressed his pride in all Dubai Customs employees. He confirmed that they have capabilities which contributed much to the enhancement of the Department’s business and boosting its reputation in local, regional and international customs events, adding that the efforts they exerted had positive returns on the local economy and the protection of society against smuggling bids which are harmful to it and the health of its members.
“As a result of your dedication and the efforts exerted at the Department in developing work systems and services offered to customers, we had a lot of achievements in 2012 at all work levels, adding a new brick on the way to Dubai prosperity and advancement, under the wise leadership of H.H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE’s Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. I am full of hope that these successes will motivate you to achieve more,” Mr Butti added.
He urged employees to invest in the training programs provided by the Department in all work fields. At the same time, he underlined that all departments must provide a work environment that incites innovation and creativity in employees, to utilize their utmost energy and enthusiasm and to appreciate them, indicating that this brings many benefits to them and to every department, ultimately reflecting on Dubai Customs and the UAE in general.
“Development and being in the lead should be before our eyes within the frame of working with a team spirit. This will only come to existence through innovative work and creativity in work methods to achieve tangible results,” Mr Butti said.
He emphasised the positive returns of cooperation, fraternity and good relations among employees, in addition to having feelings of loyalty and belonging to the Department, as they are all key factors to inciting self-motivation and encouraging others to exert more efforts at work in a productive healthy environment. He asked every employee to be an ambassador of the Department and best represent it.
On her side, Ms Nadia Abdullah Kamali, the (Acting) Executive Director of Human Resources, Finance and Administration Division, said that the Department is accustomed to organize this annual event in appreciation of its human resources and to cherish them. She added that the Department recognizes hard workers and everyone who contributes to developing and positively influencing work practices.
“Dubai Customs keeps its staff before its eyes when gearing up to launch new initiatives and projects. They are the foundation for development and performance improvement amidst a healthy work environment that we created to help them perform their duties with ease and convenience. Manpower, as His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, confirms, is our real capital in the UAE and the creator of wealth and real development”, she emphasised.
" For this reason, the Department takes care of its employees from every aspect, constantly improving the services offered to them and delivering them electronically to save employees’ time and energy and boost their satisfaction. Moreover, the Department works on improving means of communication between the HR Department and all departments and employees”, Ms Kamali added.
“We must all take pride in belonging to this deep-rooted department, which bears a considerable responsibility to reserve security and lives. The Department’s interest in employees emanate from the fact that the responsibilities they take are a major factor in the future of the coming generations. They are the present and the future together for the safety of the community with all its age segments”, Ms Kamali pointed out.
H.E Ahmed Butti, accompanied by Yousef Al Sahlawi, Senior Executive Director of Corporate Affairs at Dubai Customs, and Nadia Abdullah Kamali, awarded divisions and departments with exceptional performance and employees who made major achievements. The awarding had 16 categories, namely best division, department and customs centre in term of employee satisfaction, best leaders in grades 11 and 12, best customer service employee, excellent customs employee, excellent inspector, academic degree, ideal employee in every department, best suggestion, competitive committee, in addition to work teams awards in areas of mass wedding, increase in returns, nominees for the DGEP Awards and national identity,
The audience enjoyed a number of entertaining and cultural activities presented by the Kuwaiti comedian Dawoud Hussein, who added a spirit of joy to the ceremony by carrying out competitions and presenting awards to winners.