Sharjah 24: His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, stated that “efforts are being made to satisfy the needs of the Emirate of Sharjah's 4,000 retired citizens from non-local entities based on the information provided by the statistics that are currently being examined to identify the most urgent cases to begin providing solutions by recruiting university graduates who are the children of retirees.”

His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi said, in a telephone interview on the Sharjah Broadcasting Authority programme, "Direct line", hosted by Mohamed Hassan Khalaf, Director General of the Sharjah Broadcasting Authority: "We didn't want to lose sight of the retirees, so we counted all retirees who worked in non-local ministries or bodies, and census data revealed their number to have grown up to 4000 retirees. It would cost us 250 million dirhams to put them on Sharjah's Emirate budget annually and this will put a pressure on the budget.”

Recruiting retirees’ children
"We looked to find solutions to handle this issue and adopted a method that would speed up the employment of graduates in university from retirees’ children, to make them financially support their families. If we hire two graduates among the retired sons, we will be able to supply the family with a monthly income of 50 thousand dirhams.” His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah said.

"The statistics that we are working on, based on their data, include a lot of specific information regarding retirees. It reveals whether the retiree has additional sources of income in addition to his pension, as well as whether his pension is substantial or low.” His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi remarked.

Expenses of livelihood
“We are treating susceptible cases based on these findings. I'm currently exploring a case in which the family's monthly income is 10,000 dirhams; they pay 5,000 dirhams per month to the bank, so how will the remaining funds be used to meet the family's needs? Whoever learns about such situations needs to find a solution, even if it means “cutting from his flesh,” since we cannot put off dealing with such cases, because it is “livelihood” and expenses of a house, which are more important than the expansion of houses and other needs.”

Salary equal treatment
"We have retired federal employees, and we requested them to open bank accounts where we would deposit the difference between their pension salary and the Sharjah government's pension salary on a monthly basis, so that they are equal to their counterparts from the local government of the Emirate of Sharjah. We use this approach with retirees as well as employees from the Emirate of Sharjah who work for the federal government, ensuring that their pay are equal to those of the Emirate's local government.” His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah added.

Studying data
His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi said: "I requested officials to review the data of the retiree survey and now it will be analysed and God willing, things would be facilitated in the next few days”

His Highness continued, "As to the cases affected by some acts, we will promptly deal with them in the manner of a speedy solution to the problem by disbursing a sum from us. I have a study of the conditions of each home with all the detailed data, from the number of people and their costs to food and drink in the house."

“Some people believe that these issues are "concerns" for officials, but that they are actually a reason for the official to experience "achievements" after handling them.”

Private statistics 
“I want to point out that the statistics I get are prepared for me to address my children's problems, citizens of the Emirates of Sharjah not for commercial or economic development. The data is compiled at the earliest possible, because it cannot be postponed.” His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, concluded his talk.