Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi.

His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, on Sunday, announced raising pensions of 5,476 low-income retirees to Dhs17,500.

His Highness also unveiled package of development projects that will complete soon, notably Al Dhaid Safari, which will open on Jan.15, 2022 with the aim of providing new jobs for citizens.

This came during a phone intervention to the “Direct Line” programme broadcast on Sharjah Radio and Television.

“The total number of retirees who are not of the local staff in the Emirate of Sharjah reached 9,866 retirees, including groups whose monthly income is less than Dhs17,500, so we must raise it to Dhs17,500,” Sheikh Sultan said.

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“The Social Services Department used to provide Dhs2,000-3,000 monthly aid for those people per family, but we have now 5,476 families whose income is low, and all of them need support. And among of those retirees, some who died, others are bedridden, and others are retirees in good health,” Sheikh Sultan added.

He explained that the total number of families of the deceased retirees reached 2,143, of whom 1,704 receive monthly aid of Dhs2,000-3,000 from the Social Services Department, while 439 of them do not receive aid because they did not contact the department to obtain aid.

Sheikh Sultan continued, “We have 116 bedridden retirees, all of whom do not receive finical aid, but only in-kind support from the Department, and this is not enough. So, we conducted a study to estimate their monthly needs, which according to the study require Dhs18,000 per month. Then, we have set up a special programme to support this category, which is a priority.”

Dr Sheikh Sultan also revealed the date of the opening of the Al Dhaid Safari, saying, "We will open the Al Dhaid Safari on Jan.15, 2022. And we are now working on the completion of the Al Sharia project in Al Dhaid, which will include many institutions, namely Al Hisn and Al Sharia, along with restaurants, and many others services. We are also working on the Al Dhaid Lake project, which will accommodate large numbers of jobs, in addition to the Jubail market in Al Dhaid.”

“We also have new projects in other municipalities, such as Meliha, Madam and Al Bataeh, all of which accommodate large numbers of jobs,” Sheikh Sultan added.