Engineer Yousif Ahmed Al Ali, CEO of Etihad Water and Electricity Company (EtihadWE), has announced significant progress in the company's efforts to provide support to low-income farmers in the areas it serves. With approximately 9,000 farms in these areas, EtihadWE has successfully updated data for 7,000 farms and expects the number of eligible farmers to range between 2,000 to 3,000. This initiative aims to facilitate the distribution of the bounty offered by HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE.
To ensure that all eligible farmers receive the support, Al Ali emphasized the importance of farm owners promptly updating their data. This crucial step will ensure accurate allocation of the bounty, which is expected to cover a significant portion of their electricity consumption bills based on average monthly usage.
Etihad Water and Electricity Company, in collaboration with the Ministry of Community Development, has announced that the subsidy application process will commence in July. Subsidies will be directly deducted from the monthly electricity consumption bills of eligible farmers.
The Ministry of Community Development has allocated an annual support amount of 8,400 dirhams to each beneficiary. Farm owners will be able to view the allocated support amount through their monthly consumption bills or the service channels provided by EtihadWE. The ministry will work closely with the company to update the approved lists of beneficiaries monthly.
To streamline the registration process, the ministry will send SMS notifications to eligible farmers registered with the company, instructing them to fill out the required form and provide farm-related data. Additionally, registration will be made available on the Ministry's website. It should be noted that farms used for commercial purposes are not eligible for support. In cases where the farm owner receives support from the ministry or any other authorities for one of their farms, the highest subsidy value will be disbursed.