Minister of State for Follow Up Affairs, Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Mutawa, and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, announced results of the 3rd Arbitration of the Bahrain Centre of Excellence, on the performance of government institutions and agencies in achieving competitiveness and increased productivity for the year 2012, and plans of the Centre for the next three years 2013 – 2015.
Minister of State for follow-up said that the arbitration committee focused this year on competitiveness; one of the four values of the Bahrain for Excellence the program, pointing out that the arbitration process revealed that more than 90% of the government institutions have not met all preset competitiveness requirements.
Al Mutawa went on to say that that the committee concerned proposed redirecting government projects and programs through radical change oriented projects based on quality, cost and availability of services without additional expenses rather than quantitative growth.
He pointed out that a change of the culture of the institutions concerned is needed to apply radical change, through their inclusion in competitive laboratories so as to help them to bring added value to the government provided that institutions’ senior leaders, he said, should be involved in the process due to its positive impact on directing the course of performance.
He added that the Bahrain Centre of Excellence has laid over the last three years the foundations and premises infrastructure necessary to reach required standards of excellence, so that the public sector becomes the main source of distinct work.
He said that the centre has provided this year training courses to consultants in government institutions on how to measure opinion of clients, as well as 28 on-the-job competitive laboratories through which institutions can improve available services according to needs of clients.
The minister of State for Follow up Affairs also stressed that the self-assessment methodology has helped strengthen capacity of institutions to detect shortcomings and creative solutions on the hands of highly – experienced national experts and in –house consultants who contributed to the emergence of new efficiencies within the public sector. He added in this regard, that the projects, which enabled many national institutions to compete, were carried out by efforts of already existing workers at government ministries and institutions, without having to pay additional expenses and led to further improved productivity.
Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Minister of State for Defence, the Ministry of Health led the government institutions that submitted projects to enhance competitiveness, and jumped arranged on a journey of excellence projects submitted by five from fifth place to first place.
He pointed out that the University of Bahrain came in second place thanks to their application hard to laboratories competitive in all the important sectors, while came Electricity and Water Authority in the third place where advanced two projects to improve delivery services and the provision of water and electricity services in order to achieve a quantum leap in the availability of the service.
The minister said that the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning came in fourth place apply to projects concerned with raising awareness of the importance recycling and optimal utilization of space, and increase the speed of issuing licenses, while the Central Bank of Bahrain, who finished fifth, application projects enhance management mechanism conservative insurance, in addition to project to promote early detection of troubled banks or risk factors to deal with a more preventive way.
He pointed out that the Ministry of Works, which came in sixth place, has implemented 3 projects to enhance the competitiveness of the Kingdom in improving sanitation services, and identify black spots in the road areas where there are high traffic accidents eloquent, in addition to improving services design, implementation and maintenance of government projects.
The Committee also recommended that strategic projects that lead to innovation in government performance and the development of the government should be sent to cabinet, and that all ministries and government institutions should be obliged to join programs of the Bahrain Center for Excellence especially the laboratories of competitiveness and annual arbitration.