The Cabinet welcomed the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, to seek to remove the obstacles to the National Dialogue and to bypass the challenges it has faced. The Cabinet welcomed HM the King’s invitation to discuss the solutions necessary to reach a national consensus among all sides.
In that context, the Cabinet noted the importance of adhering to the seriousness, transparency and active participation to build on what has been achieved in the dialogue of national consensus, stressing that importance of full commitment to the national principles and renouncing violence, explicitly and openness to others are required seek reform.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, chaired the weekly Cabinet Meeting at the Gudaibiya Palace.
The Cabinet confirmed that the Bahrain International Airshow 2014 has succeeded in highlighting and documenting the name of the Kingdom of Bahrain as an international center for specialized exhibitions. The Cabinet commended the efforts made by the Higher Organizing Committee of the exhibition and the Ministry of Transportation for their elite level of preparation, organization and participation.
The Cabinet praised the role of art galleries in evoking the cultural movement emphasizing the governmental support to such development, noting Bahrain’s 40th Annual Fine Arts Gallery that was held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister. The Cabinet praised the efforts undertaken by the chairman and members of the Bahrain Society for Fine Arts and the Ministry of Culture in this respect.
The Cabinet then discussed the memorandums listed on its work agenda and made the following decisions:
The Cabinet decided to rephrase and raise some of the Kingdom’s reservations that do not challenge the provisions of Islamic Sharia on some items of the Convention to Elimination All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) referred to in Legislative Decree No. (5) for the year 2002. The Cabinet decided to take the constitutional and legal procedures to refer a bill to the legislative authority.
The Cabinet followed up projects of roads, construction and sanitation that have been accomplished in the year 2013. The Cabinet was informed of the tenders awarded and offered in 2013 that compile to 148 tenders at a total cost of 182 million Dinars, through the report submitted by the Minister of Works. These tenders included projects that have been completed such as the Northern Manama fly over, the paving of dirt roads in new areas, the development of villages, including Salmabad , Wadian, Nuwaidrat, Joe, Sitra and ALBusaiteen, alongside a project to improve and raise the efficiency of treatment in the center of Tubli, in addition to a number of construction projects including a building for Land Registration, academic building for the Bahrain Training Institute, a building of Hematology Department for the Ministry of Health, and the port in the island of Hawar, as well as program to maintain governmental buildings.
The Cabinet discussed a potential project namely “Bahrain Telecommunications Tower” to be an economic, tourist and cultural landmark as well as to be utilized to serve the telecommunications and international lines. The Cabinet instructed the Ministry of State for Communications to form a technical committee to study the feasibility of the above project in its various aspects. In this regard, the Cabinet stressed the importance of expediting the implementation of the project of the Bahrain National Broadband Network to serve the telecommunications sector, support the economy, and meet the investor’s needs
The Cabinet approved a number of suggestions from the House of Representatives, including the establishment of a communications tower, increasing the number of driving instructors’ licenses, updating and developing of the Hala Sports club, and the establishment of a sports center for women.