GUDAIBIA PALACE: As a part of the Government’s commitment towards financial discipline and transparency in disbursing public funds, the remarks of NAO were being scrutinized for necessary legal action, if necessary, according to the Information Affairs Minister.
Information Affairs Minister Isa bin Abdulrahman Al-Hammadi has stressed that the government is dealing seriously with the remarks included in the report by the National Audit Office (NAO). He emphasised that raising the general debt cap and approving the state’s budget for 2015-2016 will be achieved through coordination between the executive and legislative branches.
Speaking at the post-cabinet press conference, he noted that the government has been dealing since last year with the report in a very advanced manner in terms of decisiveness, categorisation and technical analysis of its output. He pointed out a decrease in the number of remarks in this year’s report compared to last year, adding that five remarks require referral to the Public Prosecution in the current report compared to 25 in the previous one. He said the Interior Ministry’s General Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security had been tasked to probe the remarks which necessitate referral to the Public Prosecution.
The minister explained that seven remarks require an internal inquiry compared to 33 in the previous report. He said the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs had been tasked to conduct an internal investigation into the seven violations to find out if they need a disciplinary or administrative accountability according to regulations.
The Information Minister revealed that 334 remarks, compared to 404 last year, require an administrative procedure, adding that a work team will follow up on implementation of administrative procedures for their rectification. He affirmed that the decrease in the remark index is a positive sign of performance improvement as most remarks were administrative and not legal.
The minister noted that raising the cap of the general debt, as requested by the Finance Ministry, aims to provide the needed financial resources to carry out government projects. He ruled out any direct link between the Finance Ministry’s call and a probable delay in approving the budget by the legislature, pointing out a statement given by the Finance Ministry in this respect yesterday.
The minister underlined the GCC countries’ support to Saudi Arabia following the defamatory statements of the Swedish Foreign Minister, affirming that any interference in the internal affairs of a GCC member state is interference in the domestic affairs of all the GCC countries.
The minister thanked Personal Representative of HM the King and President of the Supreme Authority for Media and Telecommunications Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa for patronising a workshop on developing the media and telecommunications sector which was attended by all editors-in-chief of local newspapers, columnists, academics and media persons. He stressed keenness on cooperation with all media personnel and journalists in Bahrain to develop the sector.