HRH Premier orders to provide services, facilities in new towns

Manama, May 21 (BNA): His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has lauded His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s patronage of the opening ceremony of the “Salman Town”. HRH Premier praised HM the King’s kind initiative to name the new urban milestone as the “Salman Town” in tribute to His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, for his dedicated efforts and outstanding contributions to the nation’s progress and prosperity. . HRH the Prime Minister, while chairing the regular weekly Cabinet session, valued highly the royal gesture reflecting HM the King’s appreciation of the giving and dedication of HRH the Crown Prince, whom, he said, very well deserves the royal honouring for his great contributions to the nation, In a related context, the Prime Minister gave directives to provide the new towns with the required public services and facilities to create urban communities with integrated services and facilities, Cabinet Secretary-General, Dr. Yasser bin Isa Al Nasser, said in a statement following the session which was held at the Gudaibiya Palace today. In this regard, HRH Premier requested the Ministerial Committee for Construction and Infrastructure to coordinate with HH Southern Governor, and submit a plan to complete the needs of the “Khalifa Town” concerning public services and facilities, including schools, internal roads, health services, youth centres and central and commercial shopping centres. The Prime Minister then briefed the cabinet on his state visit to Kuwait today, where he will meet Kuwaiti Amir, HH Shaiikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. The session praised the deep-rooted brotherly relations and the advanced level of close cooperation between Bahrain and Kuwait, stressing the importance of such visits in bolstering bilateral cooperation and enhancing the joint action of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Tackling the Palestinian issue, the session was briefed by the Foreign Affairs Minister on the results of the seventh extraordinary Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), held recently in Istanbul. The session welcomed OIC’s resolutions, which included the call for forming an independent international fact-finding committee of experts to investigate into Israeli crimes against protestors in Gaza, in addition to a call to send an international force to protect the Palestinians. The cabinet reiterated Bahrain’s commitment to supporting the Palestinian people in order to enable them to set up their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, emphasising the need to exert all efforts and to take all measures to ensure the protection of the Palestinians from the aggression of the Israeli forces. The cabinet reviewed the memoranda on its agenda, and took the following decisions: Tougher penalties on flammable materials’ use The cabinet approved strengthening punishment for crimes related to the manufacture, possession and use of flammable materials for the purpose of putting the lives of people or public or private property at risk. The session endorsed a draft-law which inflicts a jail term not exceeding 10 years and a fine on those who manufacture those materials, a jail term of no more than eight years on whoever distributes them or uses them, life in jail or a term of at least 10 years if the use of such materials has led to a permanent disability, and the death penalty or life in jail if their use has resulted in the death of a person. The bill on amending some provisions of the Penal Code promulgated by Decree-Law 15/1975 was referred to the Legislative Branch. Supreme Council for Environment to join IUCN, GEF The session approved the accession of the kingdom, represented by the Supreme Council for Environment, to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), and the Global Environment Fund (GEF). The move is in line with the government’s keenness to preserve the environment, honour its commitment environment-related agreements and combat the negative changes in the environmental system as the best means to improve the quality of the local environment.  The competent authorities were requested to take the necessary legal and technical ratification procedures. National Childhood Strategy’s action plan extended  The session followed up on the implementation of the action plan of the National Childhood Strategy 2013-2017. A presentation by the Labour and Social Development Minister showed that 79% of the action plan of the strategy had been achieved through the mechanisms and initiatives taken by the relevant ministries and government departments. The session decided to extend the implementation of the action plan for another five-year period to ensure its full implementation, and consolidate the national gains and accomplishments related to childhood development and protection. The cabinet requested all government departments to use the National Childhood Strategy as their exclusive reference while issuing childhood-related reports. MoU with Malaysia’s MQA to be renewed  The session discussed the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Bahrain’s Education and Training Quality Authority (BQA) and the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) for another period of time, and referred the matter to the Supreme Council for the Development of Education and Training. Bills, proposals referred to Legislature The cabinet reviewed a draft law, prepared based on a proposal by the Council of Representatives, on amending Article (10) of Law 27/2005 on education, and referred it to the same council, along with a memorandum on the government’s opinion on it. The government’s reply to a proposal on massage shops in Bahrain was also referred to the Council of Representatives.