In Sharjah ‘The Direct Line’ phone-in show is turning radio into a forum (and solution) for residents’ problems

In Emirati society, the majlis is the traditional forum for discussing daily events and resolving issues. As conflicts in the wider Middle East reverberate closer to home – with missile and drone fire intermittently breaching the UAE’s skies – Sharjah is offering a more modern take on the idea. Al Khat Al Mubasher (“The Direct Line”) is a phone-in programme on Sharjah Radio and Sharjah TV, broadcast live from Monday to Thursday at 13.30. Over its 90-minute running time, government officials troubleshoot residents’ concerns about pensions, property and more.

The format is simple but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. In the gallery, producers wearing kanduras (loose-fitting, ankle-length robes) hurry between consoles, operating 24 lines that each receive more than 100 calls a day. The host only discusses a handful of these on air but every caller is logged and many later hear back from a state official.

Sometimes, that official is Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, Sharjah’s ruler, who has made more than 175 live calls and given some 30,000 off-air responses to people’s problems since the show’s inception two decades ago. When the studio’s white-corded telephone rings, the team drops everything: a call from him always brings drama.

The programme’s visuals are unflashy but charmingly retro. A broadcast camera focuses on the presenter, while there are rows of ageing but reliable mixers and chunky monitors in the control room, blinking with callers’ details. It’s a surprisingly old-school set-up for a country known for its technological ambition – but it works.

When Monocle visits the bustling studio, one case that’s being discussed involves a resident whose neighbour has built a wall that makes a slight incursion into their property. A general manager of the municipality calls the programme to assure the caller that the case will be reviewed. If the complaint is valid, he adds, “We will fund the work of fixing it.” Then someone on another line explains that the retirement salary that his family had depended on stopped following his father’s death. An official phones in to say that the payment will be reinstated. Al Khat Al Mubasher doesn’t reinvent public service. It simply cuts the distance between the authorities and the public. Non-Arabic speakers now use it to discuss visa and documentation concerns. Others reach out from across the Gulf. Where else can you raise a vexing bureaucratic problem live on air and have it solved before you put down your phone?