The Cabinet which held its regular weekly meeting presided over by Deputy Premier His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa at Gudaibiya Palace expressed its utmost regret towards the Human Rights Watch organization’s recent issuance of its unfair and biased statements against the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Cabinet expressed its surprise vis-à-vis the allegations made by Human Rights Watch and its doubting the seriousness of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s reformation project although this organization should have upheld neutralism and professionalism in rights’ work without favoring one party against another.
The Cabinet emphasized that the resumption of the National Consensus Dialogue comes as another opportunity to achieve more consensus on the political theme, pointing out that the Government as an essential party in the dialogue calls for prevalence of the spirit of amity, optimism and serious work between all the parties in order to proceed forwards in setting the business agenda for dialogue with focus on context and views which boost the unity of the people so as to carry on with the march of development launched twelve years ago in line with the reformation project initiated by HM the King and through constitutional institutions and building on what has already been accomplished, which came in the light of the invitation addressed by the Deputy Premier His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa to the ministers representing the Government in the National Consensus Dialogue session to inform the Cabinet about the strides attained in the National Consensus Dialouge.
The Cabinet accentuated that the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Government dealt with the rights and reformation issue forthrightly as any fair and just observer can see which is evidenced by the political willpower of the country’s leadership and the successive reformative steps in all fields and the rights’ accomplishments are also successive. The Cabinet added that future cooperation rests on neutralism and professionalism in order to achieve the goal aspired by everybody which is the respecting of human rights and preservation of human dignity.
The Cabinet also emphasized that the Government continues its persistent efforts in supporting the tourism sector and provision of all components which make the sector capable of boosting the Kingdom of Bahrain’s position on the tourism map. The Cabinet welcomed in this respect the launching of (Manama as the Capital of Arab Tourism2013) during a ceremony hosted under the kind auspices of HRH the Prime Minister recently. The Cabinet praised the Ministry of Culture’s officials in charge of these events.
The Cabinet also explored topics and memoranda listed in its agenda and passed the following resolutions:
The Cabinet tasked the National Authority for Organizing Health Professions and Services for issuance of the necessary resolutions for this purpose; and, also tasked the Ministry of Health to coordinate with the above-said Authority to conduct continuous periodical revision of drugs pricelists to ensure that the local market prices are commensurate with prices in the rest of GCC countries in the manner recommended by the ministerial committee on social services affairs, media, transport and communications sector in the light of its studying of the Minister of Health’s memorandum.
The Cabinet endorsed the restructuring of the National Commission on Population so that the Minister of State for Follow-Up assumes the Population Commission’s presidency and so that the Cabinet Secretary-General assumes the position of its Vice Chairman. The membership of the Population’s Commission comprises representatives from the government ministries, authorities and civil society organizations in the manner recommended by the ministerial commission on social services affairs, media and transport and communications sector.
The Cabinet directed all government ministries, authorities and directorates to expedite the completion of the requisite procedures including preparation of the necessary legal instruments for implementation of resolutions issued from the GCC Supreme Council ahead of setting national legislations which accomplish these resolutions as soon as possible.
The Cabinet reviewed a number of proposals which support the advantages of the Bahrain Logistics Zone located in Mina Khalifa bin Salman Area in order to attract more investments in the logistics field so as to boost the Kingdom of Bahrain’s position in this respect. And upon reviewing a memorandum submitted by the Minister of Transport for this purpose, the Cabinet resolved to refer it to the ministerial commission of financial and economic affairs.
The Cabinet reviewed the domestic trade activity in the Kingdom of Bahrain by reviewing the annual report of commercial activities of local trade for the year 2012 submitted by the Minister of Industry and Commerce. The report shows that the number of commercial registrations has increased by 6.6% between 2011 and 2012; meanwhile, new establishments and trading agencies registered have increased by 32.5%. The Cabinet cited the increased seen on the country’s commercial activity in the light of the aforesaid report.
The Cabinet reviewed the workflow of urban construction from a memorandum submitted by the Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning regarding investment-related construction licensures issued in 2012 which shows an increase in construction area by 1.5 million square meters in consideration for a total cost of BD 528 million.
The Cabinet endorsed a bill of law for ratification of an agreement between the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for assigning responsibility for provision of air traffic services in a portion of the northeastern airspace of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in order to be referred to the legislative authority in compliance with constitutional procedures and in the manner recommended by the ministerial commission of legal affairs.
The Cabinet approved the request of the Ministry of Education regarding transferring the affiliation of the Bahrain Training Institute (BTI) from the assistant undersecretary for human resources to the Ministry of Education’s undersecretary for resources and services and raising the rank of the BTI’s general director to become a ministerial assistant undersecretary in the manner recommended by the Civil Service Bureau in the memorandum submitted from His Excellency the Deputy Premier to the vice chairman of the Civil Service Council.
The Cabinet approved the restructuring of the National Authority for Qualifications and Quality of Education and Training (QAAET) so that the Authority’s Executive President be in the rank of ministerial undersecretary; and, introducing of both positions of director general in the rank of a ministerial assistant undersecretary whereas the former becomes general director for auditing the performance of educational and training institutions and the latter becomes director general for the National Framework of Qualifications.
The Cabinet explored a number of recommendations submitted by the Ministry of Transport regarding service charges on transit in Bahraini airspace. The Cabinet resolved to refer it to the ministerial commission on social services, media, and transport and communications sector.
The Cabinet explored a number of proposals regarding solution of the problem of scarcity of parking lots in Muharraq Governorate, especially in the third constituency; remuneration to teachers and supervisors (both male and female) in Koran Centers affiliated with the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs, and Endowments and organizing ceremonies for graduation of students in government schools.
The Cabinet took note of what has been done by the Shura Council and the House of Representatives regarding some decrees-by-law which had been issued.
Regarding reports, the Minister of Industry and Commerce informed the Cabinet regarding the outcome of his official visit to the Kingdom of Thailand in the period 26th to 28th February 2013.
Also, the Cabinet was informed about the outcomes of the visit of the Minister of Labour to Geneva and to Cairo in the period 27th February to 2nd March 2013.