1000 refurbished computers handed over to Tanmia

The handover ceremony was held at the Used Computers Refurbishing Centre at Al Muhaisina with Hussain Nasser Lootah, Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality, Ibrahim Bumelha, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Foundation, Feddah Lootah, Acting General Manager of Tanmia and several senior officials of the government and non-government institutions attending.

Hussain Lootah said' "The initiative is aimed at spreading the culture of technology and protection of the environment among different segments of the society and helping all government and non-government institutions to have a sufficient number of personal computers for various use."

He said that the civic body has embarked on this initiative to fulfill its environmental, educational and charity objectives under the service perspective.

"Through this project we endeavour to support efforts aimed at developing the national human resources and enhance the recycling culture, especially when these computers will support the programmes that seek to equip young nationals with new skills," said Lootah.

He said the Municipality is cooperating with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charity and Humanitarian Foundation in distributing the computers that are refurbished with technical support from Microsoft.

Lootah said that under the Dhs1.5m project, which was formally launched in February 2007, as many as 6542 personal computers, 8199 monitors, 2214 printers, 446 scanners, 3795 keyboards, 2391 mouse, 328 speakers, and 304 laptops were received.

Some 2040 refurbished computers were distributed to various establishments including charity associations, educational institutions, special needs centre, NGOs in the UAE. Also, 90 computers were sent to Sultanate of Oman (distributed to various institutions including a women's association) and 24 computers were sent to Sudan where a charity organisation will take up their distribution to needy establishments including a school for the deaf and dumb. In addition, 45 machines were sent to the Zayed Orphanage in Afghanistan.

Ibrahim Bumelha said the initiative has been receiving tremendous response from various government and private institutions in the country. Many organisations have been donating their old computers in a bid to support this noble initiative that serves both the environment and the public interest.

"We aim to collect around 5,000 computers a year and hope to make it 10,000 with more concerted efforts by different local and federal government bodies and the private establishments. With these computers and their accessories the foundation will try to support developmental and educational projects and also spread electronic culture in the remote and rural areas in some under-developed countries in the light of the existing cooperation and friendship with them," Bumelha said.

Feddah Lootah concluded, "We appreciate the initiative taken up by Dubai Municipality and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation in order to support the job-seeking UAE nationals who would find this support crucial in their bid to compete effectively in the local job market."