ABU DHABI // Government officials have taken their message to the internet with the launch of their own video channel. Videos highlighting the work of the Department of Municipal Affairs have been launched on YouTube and its Arabic equivalent, Ikbis. The department said the move followed its promise at the launch of its five-year plan in April to be more transparent and to promote greater involvement with the public.
Two videos have been uploaded onto YouTube in the past week - one, more than five minutes long, features interviews with officials, in Arabic, about the work the department is carrying out across the capital, Al Ain and Al Gharbia. Among the interviewees are Dr Juan Salem al Dhaheri, the chairman of the Department of Municipal Affairs, and Hamoud Humaid al Mansouri, the general manager of the Western Region Municipality.
A second film, which is more than nine minutes long, asks, "What is Abu Dhabi?", and was filmed at the Cityscape event in the city in May. Among the suggestions made by members of the public on how to improve Abu Dhabi are fixing the city's traffic signals and building a metro. The new Google Insights application indicates YouTube is regularly among the most searched-for terms on Google. YouTube was the fourth most-searched-for term on Google in the UAE last year, although Ikbis was not on any of the most-searched lists.
So far, the response to the DMA's videos on YouTube has been less than effusive, with only 35 hits for the main DMA video and 32 for the "What is Abu Dhabi?" clip. None of the viewers has rated the videos. @Email:rhughes@thenational.ae