His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa chaired the regular weekly Cabinet meeting at the Gudaibiya Palace after the meeting Dr. Yaser bin Essa Alnaser, Secretary General of the Cabinet, released the following statement:
On the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan, the Cabinet sent its congratulations to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister and to all Bahriani citizens and residents as well as to the Arabic and Islamic nations upon this auspicious religious occasion. The Cabinet prays for the nation’s inspiration by the lessons of this Holy month resulting in the devotion to kindness, brotherhood and compassion.
After that, the Cabinet condemned the terrorist attack and bombing resulting in the death of a police officer during his duty of maintaining security, law and order in Sitra. The Cabinet stressed their confidence in the police force’s ability to catch the perpetrators involved in such terrorist activities and prosecute them to the full extent of the law. The Cabinet also expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased policeman and expressed its best wishes for a speedy recovery for the other injured officers.
Moreover, the Cabinet praised the efforts and vigilance of police forces in detecting terrorist plots that aim to disrupt security and stability, the latest of which was the discovery of weapons and ammunition hidden in an underground repository in Tubli.
The cabinet stressed that Bahrain is determined to combat terrorist plots that target the safety and stability of the Kingdom, pointing out that the reform approach taken by HM the King provides protection for Bahraini society and emphasizing that involvement and participation in the democratic process is the only way to reach community consensus. The Cabinet expressed its deep appreciation for all the efforts and sacrifices made by the police force and security agencies, as well as all the work by the Minister of Interior and his staff in order to ensure safety, stability and order in Bahrain.
After the visit of HRH the Prime Minister to Halat Bumaher Health Centre and the west housing project of Busaiteen, the Cabinet directed that housing projects to be equipped with necessary services for citizens such as commercial malls and stores providing necessary consumer goods.
In the context of the Cabinet’s efforts to enhance the security procedures in ports including the Khalifa bin Salman Port, the Cabinet assigned the Ministry of Interior to coordinate with the Ministry of Transportation to develop the necessary studies and submit recommendations on General Security Supervision of the Khalifa bin Salman Port’s access points.
The Cabinet then discussed several topics that concern the citizens and followed up on the procedures taken by the relevant and specialized authorities in regards to the financial support allowance and the increase in pensions to be paid out in time. The cabinet also followed up on complaints made by residents of Isa Town in regards to the traffic congestion and disturbance caused by the implementation of service and infrastructure projects in the area. HRH the Prime Minister directed the specialized authorities to speed up the projects implementation and maintain the steady flow of traffic in order to decrease traffic congestion. The Cabinet also instructed the number of inspectors be increased to support the government plans in regards to protecting the consumer.
In response to a memorandum submitted by the Minister of Education, HRH the Prime Minister directed a swift resolution to the problem facing Delmon University graduates regarding the ratification of their degrees in accordance with the law, and in a form that ensures both the interests of students and maintains the status of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s education and reputation.
In fulfillment to the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdulla bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, at the 3rd Arab Economic and Social Development Summit held in Riyadh in January 2013 on increasing the capital of Arab financial institutions and the Islamic Development Bank, the Cabinet decided to increase Bahrain’s capital in a number of Arab financial institutions and the Islamic Development Bank including the Arab Monetary Fund, the Arab Investment Guarantee Cooperation, Arab Authority for Agriculture Investment and Development and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa. The Cabinet commissioned the Ministry of Finance to take the necessary procedures to coordinate with the relevant and specialized authorities.
The Cabinet approved the reorganization of the appointment of Honorary Consuls of the Kingdom of Bahrain abroad, as well as accepting honorary consuls of foreign countries to work in the Kingdom of Bahrain as such, and to be issued in that light a directive by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to determine the internal regulatory framework governing this matter. The Cabinet decided to refer the draft law bill to amend Article 75 of Law 37 (2009) regarding the Diplomatic and Consular corps to the Legislative Authority and for the specialized authorities to take the necessary measures.
The Cabinet praised the existing cooperation between the Executive and Legislative authorities in regards to the legislative and supervisory role during the brief council on the report submitted by the Minister of Shura and House of Representatives Affairs on the third session of the Third Legislative term of the Shura and Representatives.
The Cabinet approved to put forward a project to develop the system of calculating the proportion of Bahrainization in the private sector (i.e., Bahrainization Quality System) to provide further assistance and incentives for enterprises that employ jobless citizens. This system calculates one job seeker in jobs that are difficult to occupy as 2 or 3 Bahraini employees depending on the job’s type. Through this project the government desires to stimulate the employment of job seekers and encourage Bahrainization in the private sector in various specialties and fields. The Cabinet assigned the Ministry of Labor to implement the system to be evaluated after a specified period of time.
The Cabinet instructed authorities to ensure the readiness of the electrical utility services to face the increasing demand for electricity; prevent interruption; continue efforts to decrease the number and duration of power cuts; overcome urgent outages as soon as possible; and to use mobile generators in case of emergencies to prevent citizens from suffering, especially in the summer and the Holy month of Ramadan. The Cabinet took note of the improvement of the number and duration of power cuts which have been reduced significantly in the last few years, lauding the efforts made by the Minister of State for Electricity and Water.
The Cabinet referred to the Legislative authority a memorandum on the government opinion on the draft law bill to amend the Article 1 of Decree Law 17 (1976) regarding to juveniles prepared in light of the draft law bill submitted by the House of Representatives.