President Sheikh Mohamed orders electricity subsidies for Emirati farmers

Monthly support of Dh8,400 per beneficiary will be rolled out in July

President Sheikh Mohamed has directed the Ministry of Community Development and Etihad Water and Electricity to provide the monthly subsidies from July. Photo: Ministry of Presidential Affairs

President Sheikh Mohamed has ordered financial assistance for low-income Emirati farm owners in the form of electricity subsidies.

The President directed the Ministry of Community Development and Etihad Water and Electricity, which primarily serves the Northern Emirates, to provide the monthly subsidies from July.

The support is in line with the aims of the country's leadership to provide a decent standard of living for citizens and help reduce the financial burden related to electricity bills.

It will be rolled out in July with the allocation of an annual amount of Dh8,400 per beneficiary, which is equivalent to a maximum consumption of 2,500kW/h per month.

Beneficiaries can check the monthly support amount by referring to their farms' consumption bills from Etihad Water and Electricity.

The ministry will co-ordinate with Etihad Water and Electricity on determining and revalidating the approved lists of beneficiaries on a monthly basis.

Text messages will be sent to the beneficiaries, which will provide the necessary details in addition to an application form to be filled out.

Beneficiaries can also register on the Ministry of Community Development’s website.

The support covers eligible low-income farm owners who are registered in a federal or local social welfare programme.

Farms used for commercial purposes will not be eligible for the support and the farm owner should not be receiving additional support for electricity consumption on any of their owned farms.

If a beneficiary owns multiple farms, they should update their data with Etihad Water and Electricity before applying for the support programme with the ministry.

Support package for families

In July 2022, Sheikh Mohamed announced a Dh28 billion ($7.6 billion) social support package to provide lower-income Emirati families with subsidies for essentials including fuel, food and utilities.

The President said the existing social support programme for citizens would be restructured to raise annual financial assistance from Dh2.7 billion to Dh5 billion.

The total social support budget was doubled from Dh14 billion.

Led by the Ministry of Community Development, the programme offers aid for housing, food, fuel, electricity and water, in addition to temporary financial support for unemployed citizens over the age of 45.

The initiative also sets out a series of allowances for Emiratis.

All of the measures are for Emirati households with a total household income of up to Dh25,000.

The programme supported 47,000 Emirati families in its first month.

On Tuesday, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, approved a Dh85.4 billion community master plan to build 76,000 homes and residential plots for citizens in the capital over the next five years.

The long-term investment will support efforts to develop integrated community housing and neighbourhoods across the emirate.

The major project will encompass community and recreational amenities, including the construction of a number of mosques, schools, public parks and green spaces.