Nurseries cheating to cut costs: UAE Ministry

Several nurseries in the UAE are cheating laws by faking contracts with doctors to cut costs and obtain government services, prompting authorities to punish offenders and toughen laws governing their work.

The Ministry of Social Affairs, which is in charge of hundreds of nurseries operating in the country, said it had fined some of those establishments for presenting contracts with doctors, who do not actually work for them.

Some of the doctors are also not authorized by health authorities and others do not even reside in the UAE, it said.

“We have imposed heavy fines on those nurseries through the country after our inspectors discovered their violations,” said Mouza Al Shoomi, director of the child section at the Ministry of Social Affairs.

“We have also modified rules by demanding that any contract with a doctor must be attested by the Ministry of Health and health departments in each emirate…doctors listed in the doctor must also be authorized by health authorities,” she told the Arabic language daily Emirat Alyoum.

She said those nurseries had resorted to such practices to reduce their operating costs and obtain quick Ministry services, including licence and renewal of permit.

“We will not tolerate any attempt to cut costs at the expense of children’s health and safety…these actions are totally unacceptable,”
she said.

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