Sharjah International Airport Free Zone Authority (Saif) officials called on Sewa (Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority) to review the procedures and charges levied on companies operating from the free zone.
Sewa follows a quota system and gives connections to facilities at a fee, which ranges up to Dh600,000.
This hampers free zone's contribution to the economy, according to Saif officials.
Taryam Matar, Director-General of Saif, said 72 factories in the free zone are operating on generators.
Some of these factories applied for electricity and water connections in 2006 and have already paid the required fees.
He was speaking on the sidelines of Sharjah Executive Council session, which was discussing Saif policies.
The session was chaired by Dr Obaid Al Hajri, Chairman of the Council and attended by Taryam Matar, in the presence of Khalid Jassim Al Madfa’a, Assistant Director-General of the Authority.
Ali Al Owais, member of Sharjah Excutive Council, wondered why Sewa does not support existing free zone projects.
Matar criticised Sewa of collecting huge fee, which he said would hamper the objective of Decree No. 2 of 1995 of the establishment of the Free Zone of Sharjah International Airport which aims at attracting investments and companies to work in the free zone.
Matar urged Sewa to re-examine its policies applicable to free zone companies in order to help Saif work towards its strategy of attracting foreign investment, especially because competition among free zones is increasing. There are about 32 free zones currently.
On its part, Saif has been doing its best to improve services. They have initiated measures that ensure licences are issued within 24 hours following submission of application.
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