Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of the Dubai Municipality, attended the reception of the fifth Group Wedding of Dubai Municipality employees on Monday night.
Mr. Hur Nam-sik, Mayor of the South Korean City of Busan, who signed a twinning agreement with Dubai earlier in the day, was the guest of honour at the ceremony, hosted by the civic body at its Staff Club in Garhoud.
"The municipality took this initiative in a bid to follow the instructions of the Father of the Nation Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan with regard to cutting cost of wedding ceremonies and avoiding lavishness in arranging wedding parties," said Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah, Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality.
He thanked Sheikh Hamdan for the noble gesture of patronizing the whole event. "This shows his keenness in providing a decent social life to the youths and reducing their burden in arranging wedding parties."
A total of 61 couples tied the knot this year under the group wedding programme, organized with the aim of helping employees reduce their wedding expenses. In four cases of the 61 marriages, both the grooms and brides are working with Dubai Municipality. In 19 marriages, only the brides are DM staff while in the remaining 42, grooms are employed by the civic body. During the first group wedding ceremony of Municipality employees in 2002, there were only 12 couples.
The entire expenditure for the glittering reception, which also featured folk performances by troupes, fireworks, traditional wedding opera and folk arts show, was borne by the municipality. Sheikh Hamdan presented gifts to the grooms as a token of appreciation for their participation in the group wedding programme. Dnata, one of the sponsors, will be providing the couples with free air tickets to Seychelles for their honeymoon.
"The noble gesture of Sheikh Hamdan will have a positive impact on the employees of the Municipality and it also shows how much the municipality cares for us," said Omar Al Marri, who works as an administrative officer with the Public Relations and Organizations Department.
The organizing committee, in coordination with concerned departments of the municipality, decorated the venue with roses and thousands of colourful lights, while enough parking space was provided outside the club. Over 2,500 guests attended the ceremony.
The committee also printed a booklet which included a brief description of the grooms and their words of gratitude to their patron, Sheikh Hamdan, on the occasion, in addition to brief about past group weddings.
Sheikh Hamdan has exempted wedding ceremonies, organised by national youths at Dubai's hotels, from the municipality fees in a bid to make marriages less costly.
-Ends-
Ismail Meladi,
Journalist, Media Section,
Public Relations & Organizations Department,
Dubai Municipality,
Post Box No. 67,
Dubai,
UAE
Ph: 971-4-2064657 (O),
971-50-6341075 (M)
Email: ipparambil@dm.gov.ae
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© Press Release 2006
