Government Departments promise the best ever DSS events

The Organising Committee (OC) that charted out the course of the eighth annual summer event at a special meetings held recently. As in the past, DSS will commence on June 22 with the Flower Surprises and conclude with the Back-2-School Surprises on September 2.

Said Saeed Al Nabouda, CEO, DSS: "The Organizing Committee of DSS 2005 is charting out yet another interesting episode of the seven-year-long event which has to surpass its own records. Once again, all the Government departments are joining forces with the private sector in taking DSS to greater heights and to make it appealing to the whole family, whether it's a national, GCC, resident or visiting family." "We will continue our efforts to make the eighth DSS yet another memorable event by offering all the best possible benefits to the visitors."

The DSS OC has enlisted various Government departments to present a theme week each - a step that will go a long way in incorporating diverse ideas from different officials and volunteers during the 10 themed weeks. The participating government departments have reiterated their promise to provide the best, and the most colourful events and activities for children during the two-and-a-half-month event.

The 17 Government departments organising and supporting the summer surprises include the Dubai Municipality (Flower Surprises from June 22-29); Dubai Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Sweets Surprises from June 30 to July 6); Dubai Naturalisation & Residency Department (Arts Surprises from July 7 to 13); Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Colour Surprises from July 14 to 20); Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Ice Surprises from July 21 to 27); Dubai Ports Authority (Adventure Surprises from July 28 to August 3); Department of Health & Medical Services (Cartoon Surprises from August 4 to 10); Dubai Customs (Heritage Surprises from August 11 to 17); Dubai Police (Knowledge Surprises from August 18 to 24) and the Dubai Development Board (Back-2-School Surprises from August 25 to September 2).

Said Ahmed Abdul Kareem, Dubai Municipality, who is heading the opening week of the Flower Surprises starting on June 22, "The Dubai Municipality has been associated with the DSS since its inception in 1998 and has been actively involved in its various theme -specific weeks. For DSS 2005, we are trying to put up a very interesting Flower Surprises week with a larger number of competitions and workshops. Our target is to attract 30 per cent more visitors than the previous year record. Thanks to the exciting activities earmarked for the flower show, we are optimistic to achieve that."

Shaikha Al Mutawa, Department of Tourism and Commerce and Marketing, heads the team organsing the Sweet Surprise that comes in the second week from 30 June to 6 July. Says Sheikha, "For the third consecutive year, the DTCM will present many events in the shopping malls during the week of Sweets Surprise. During the sweet events, divided into educational and entertainment sections, children can expect really big surprises".

Lt. Col./ Jassim Abdul Ghafoor, Dubai Naturalisation & Residency Department (DNRD) too is excited about his department's involvement in DSS, "We are happy with the way the Arts Surprises event has been entrusted on us. We have plans to make this a memorable week for all the visitors of DSS irrespective of their age and ethnic background. This is going to be a real surprise for everyone," he said, advising families to mark July 7 to 13 in their diaries.

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry is committed to not only business and economy, but also in shaping the future generations. DCCI's Nuha Safar who is heading the Colour Surprises week said that her department is doing its best in churning out a very colourful week. "Our idea is to break all the previous records in organising one of the best Colour Surprises weeks this DSS2005 and with our previous track record we are bound to be bang on target," she assured.

Abdullah Al Hajiri, Dubai Electricity and Water Department (DEWA) who heads the Ice Surprises week team is quite upbeat about DEWA's participation at DSS. "DEWA is always at the forefront of participating in various social events that help everyone in the society, especially children. We are regular organisers of one of the DSS themes. We are responsible this year for organsing the Ice Surprises week. We will make sure that the Ice City will be the best till date and will be fully enjoyed by a maximum number of visitors and children," he said.

Abdullah Khamis Hareb of Dubai Ports Authority will be the busiest person around in the coming days. He will be heading two themed weeks' committees - the Adventure Surprises, organised by the DPA from July 28 to August 3 and the Heritage Surprises organized by the Dubai Customs from August 11 to August 3. Abdullah said, "This year we are organising two out of 10 theme weeks namely the Adventure and Heritage Surprises weeks. We are very proud of the trust placed on us by the DSS Office by handing over the responsibility of managing two of the important events. We have great ideas in store which will make these DSS events unforgettable."

Hala Lootah, Department of Health & Medical Services (DOHMS), is saddled with the responsibility of organising the Cartoon Surprises Week, one of the most sought after events by children. Said Hala, "We have been involved with DSS from day one and have good experience in organising the various theme-specific weeks. This time we are entrusted with the job of heading the Cartoon Surprise week which we want to make better than its predecessors by incorporating an equal dose of education and entertainment for everyone."

Dubai Police's Major. Mohammed bin Dylan, Head of the Knowledge Surprises week said, "The main aim behind our participation is to fill up the spare time of the children and the youngsters with entertaining and educational activities. As they say an ideal mind is devil's workshop, I think children should be kept busy all the time therefore we are putting up a truly productive week for them."

The last but not the least surprise week is Back-2-School Week from 25 August to 2 September, which is organized by the Development Board. Amal Al Hammadi who is heading the Back-2-School week said: "we are participating in DSS for the first time in organzing the Back -2-School Week. We are excited and will make this week the best DSS event that would greatly contribute to educate the society".

The other departments supporting the event are the Department of Economic Development, the Islamic Affairs Department, Dubai e-Government, Dubai TV, Dubai Civil Aviation, the Land Department and Civil Defense.

On behalf of the Dubai shopping malls events committee, Mohammed Helal Al Muroshedi, said, "We have always been organising the Back-2-School surprises but now we have a bigger responsibility which will be working side by side with Dubai Summer Surprises Office in organizing events at all shopping malls in Dubai and we will surely offer great events for everyone."

Aisha Al Kash who heads the DSS team of the Department of Islamic Affairs said: "the DIA will present many workshops and educational plays which focus on Islamic issues. They will be suitable for everyone especially children and the Arab and foreign visitors of DSS".

The Dubai e-government is also participating in DSS this year, with Rehab Lootah heading the team: "we present all the e-services for the all participating organizing committee. In addition we prepare some e-events for children will which help them in developing different skills and abilities".

Dubai Media Incorporated will participate in DSS with its team leader Abdullatef Al Gargawi. Says Al Gargawi: "we will participate in DSS by giving extensive media coverage to various events and surprises activities. We will also prepare different programs like Modhesh World Program, Good Evening Dubai, Cooking Program and a competition program presented from a DSS participating shopping mall in Dubai."

Dubai Civil Aviation is also participating in DSS with Abdullah Al Najjar as its team leader. He says: "we will receive the DSS visitors and offer a red carpet welcome to them at the Dubai international airport. We are trying to attract biggest number of visitors by decorating the airport."

The Land Department is also participating with team leader AbdulAziz bin Harib. Says Abdul : "we will offer a lot of events which contain training sessions for the family about family values, children and couple relationship. This year we will accept more visitors and our training programmes will concentrate on family issues. We expect more visitors to attend these training courses."

Civil Defense headed by Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim Al Sayagh said: "We are participating in DSS officially for the first time to ensure the safety for all of event's visitors. In addition, we will be organizing exciting events and activities for children and families, and the main aim behind all the events we organize is to spread the awareness among people about the importance for safety and security."

DSS 2005 begins with the Flower Surprises on June 22 and continues with the Sweets Surprises, Arts Surprises, Colour Surprises, Ice Surprises, Adventure Surprises, Cartoon Surprises, Heritage Surprises, Knowledge Surprises and concludes with the Back-2-School Surprises on September 2.